


fall onto you

by maiwriting



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Eventual Smut, F/F, Idiots in Love, Kara hooks up with everyone, Lena is the reluctant roommate, Light Angst, Roommates, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Supercorptober2020, and some casual light choking, enemies to idiots to lovers, it's fairly pg13 there's only one f bomb in this fic, omg they're roommates, queerbaiting in this fic? get a grip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 90,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiwriting/pseuds/maiwriting
Summary: Kara Danvers takes pride in being an investigative reporter. Her exposé on the Luthors’ Ponzi scheme won her awards and recognition, and a lot of the ladies. Thanks to her article, it got Lillian and Lex Luthor thrown into jail. Unfortunately, Lena Luthor walks away scot-free as there wasn’t enough evidence to implicate that she was part of their heinous investment scam, despite Kara believing otherwise. That's why it comes as a shock when Kara finds out who her new neighbor is. Out of all the apartment buildings in National City, why must she move into the same one as hers?
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 777
Kudos: 1243





	1. fall

Kara Danvers takes pride in being an investigative reporter. Her exposé on the Luthors’ Ponzi scheme won her awards and recognition, and a lot of the ladies. Thanks to her article, it got Lillian and Lex Luthor thrown into jail. Unfortunately, Lena Luthor walks away scot-free as there wasn’t enough evidence to implicate that she was part of their heinous investment scam, despite Kara believing otherwise. That's why it comes as a shock when Kara finds out who her new neighbor is.

As she was about to take out her mail from the mailbox marked ‘506’, another hand shot in at the same time and aimed for the mailbox marked ‘606’.

“Sorry—”

“Pardon—”

“Lena Luthor,” Kara says in a shocked tone with gritted teeth. It was rumored that she was thrown out of the Luthor mansion, as all of their wealth and assets were frozen due to the scandal. Not to mention, their offices and towers are closed down as well, leaving Lena with nothing. This must be where she intends to make a fresh start. By living in the same building as hers. Great.

“Kara Danvers,” Lena replies with the same annoyance in her voice.

Lena quickly takes her mail and Kara follows suit. While quickly browsing through it to make sure it was all addressed to her, Kara can hear Lena mutter under her breath, “Of course.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kara throws her a look, while also glancing and going through her mails.

“Of course, the one person who ruins my life now lives in the same apartment as me,” Lena rolls her eyes, grabs her laptop briefcase that was on the floor and walks quickly towards the elevator.

Kara followed behind as slow as she possibly could, but soon caught up as she watched the elevator slowly making its way down. She rolls her eyes, bracing herself to be in the same elevator as Lena Luthor for the next 5 floors.

As they get in the elevator, Lena presses for her floor and steps to the back. Kara frowns, because  _ of course a Luthor wouldn’t help press for her floor _ , even though she clearly knows Kara lives below her. She can hear Lena audibly sighs and somehow that ticked Kara off. If anything, SHE should be the one annoyed right now. 

“Why are you even here? Was hell full?” Kara turns around and asks in a mocking tone.

“No, this place was cheaper,” Lena retorts quickly, “Not sure what that says about you,” she looks Kara up and down as she says it.

“Awww, the trust fund got frozen? Boo hoo,” Kara retorts back and turns around to the front again to face the elevator’s display. 3 more floors.

“At least I can still make a living for myself, this apartment is just a new start, I can go up from here. Unfortunately for you, this is your top,” Lena says, even without turning around she can feel Lena is giving her a condescending look.

“Rather be a top here than to be at the top of a pyramid,” Kara smiles, proud of herself to think up of a quick jab. 

After a small silence, Lena replies, “Whatever, I can’t believe I have to face you everyday now.”

Kara scoffs, “Oh, trust me, if I have the choice, your face is the last thing I want to see everyday. Also FYI, I’ve been living here for the past 5 years so you’re the one intruding right now.”

“Seems fair. You intruded into my life,” Lena replies softly, but Kara could sense that she’s angry. Well,  _ tell that to half of National City citizens your family swindled _ was what Kara wanted to reply but she bites back her own tongue.

The elevator reaches Kara’s floor and the door opens. Kara steps out and looks back at Lena, “Not my fault your family is evil.”

Lena seems quiet for a moment but manages to respond right as the door was about to close, “No, but it’s not mine either.”

When the door closes, Kara groans out loud. Why? Out of all the apartment buildings in National City, why must she move into the same one as hers?

\--

Kara has her arms around Lucy as the elevator door closes.

“Hold the door!” A voice yells out.

Lucy holds down the button and Lena walks in. The moment Lena’s eyes land on Kara, she gets visibly irritated. She looks at Lucy, “Sixth floor, please. Thank you,” and walks to the back of the elevator, as far from Kara and her date as possible.

Lucy kindly obliged and Kara makes a show to pull Lucy closer to her. She kisses Lucy’s temple and whispers loudly so Lena can hear, “Sweetie pie, what do you want me to do to you tonight?”

Lucy slaps Kara’s body lightly and pushes her off of her, eyeing Lena in the elevator and whispers back, “You’re so naughty tonight, babe.”

The door opens and they giggle as they make their way out. As Kara was looking for her keys to her apartment, Lucy asks, “Babe, was that Lena Luthor?”

Kara shrugs, “I don’t know, I didn’t see.”

\--

They reach for the mailbox at the same time again and Lena quickly pulls her hands back. Kara grabs her mail quickly and Lena follows soon after.

“Can you tone it down? Or get a less squeaky bed at least. It’s  _ EEK EEK EEK EEK _ ,” Lena complains while looking through her mails.

“Can you walk lightly? Every time your heels are on the floor it’s  _ CLICK CLACK CLICK CLACK _ ,” Kara mocks Lena in the same tone as her.

Lena makes a loud  _ hmph _ and raises her voice a bit too loud, “No wonder the person before me moved out, she probably can’t stand you.”

As she walks to the elevator, Kara follows along to get in a quip she just thought up, “Does that mean you’ll move out soon too? I heard there’s vacancy in the pits of hell,” and smiles as sinisterly as possible at Lena.

“Even hell is better than staying at the same place as you. However, I won’t give you the satisfaction of me moving out of here. I don’t give up that easily,” Lena replies looking at Kara, but quickly looks back at the elevator’s display when she sees Kara’s smirk.

“I guess I just have to work extra hard then.”

That night Kara moans just a bit louder than usual, and she swears she can hear Lena stomping her feet twice as hard.

\--

“Bye muffin, see you soon,” Kara kisses Eve goodbye, “thanks for walking me home.”

“Excuse me,” Lena coughs lightly at Kara and her date as they were blocking the entrance to the apartment’s building.

“There’s plenty of space, just walk around us,” Kara grumbles but Eve gives her another quick kiss, “Babe, don’t get mad. Sorry,” Eve apologized on behalf of them and waved Kara goodbye.

Kara opens the apartment’s door but doesn’t hold it for Lena and lets it close behind her. Lena throws her hands up at the childishness of it all and buzzes herself in. She walks into the building with those loud high heels that Kara finds annoying. 

“How many girlfriends do you even have?” Lena suddenly asks as they are waiting for the elevator. That’s three she’s seen this week. All different each time.

“Are you interested?” Kara smirks, “I’m sorry, applications are closed.” 

“Ew. Even if it’s open, I wouldn’t apply,” Lena replies as she gives a disgusted look.

“If you did, your application would go straight to the rejection pile,” Kara quips back. 

“Good, I’d prefer that.”

The door opens and Lena jumps in and quickly presses the close button. As the door closes, Kara could see her smiling for the first time as she gives Kara a little goodbye wave. Kara swears she doesn’t hate anyone as much as she hates Lena Luthor right now.

\--

“Babe, did you hear that?” Sam asks when she hears a loud thunk upstairs.

“Ignore it Honey, it’s my new upstairs neighbor. She’s annoying,” Kara tries to reassure Sam and continues kissing her. But the thunk doesn’t cease and it gets louder and louder, it sounds like someone is kicking the floor or hitting something on it.

“I think we’re being too loud,” Sam worries.

“Just ignore it,” Kara tells Sam but the mood is gone. Neither one of them wants to continue making out. As Sam leaves her apartment, Kara is sure of only one thing and one thing only. Lena Luthor really infuriates her.

\--

The next evening, Kara gets ready with a contraption she made, a hammer at the end of a broomstick, and waits for those annoyingly loud high heels to announce their arrival. She looks at her watch,  _ anytime soon _ . After a few weeks of stumbling into her upstairs neighbor accidentally, she makes a mental note to avoid her. She leaves her apartment at 8am, comes back at 7pm on the dot. They no longer share awkward elevator rides but she makes her presence known with her noisy thumping and annoyingly loud heels. This time, Kara will be the one to make some noise back.

The minute she hears the heels, she bangs the ceiling with her contraption, “Shut up! Shut up! You’re too loud! How do you like that!”

After her incessant banging, it’s filled with silence, and Kara laughs to herself.  _ That’ll teach her a lesson _ .

When she was about to sit on her couch, Lena thumps back. Louder. Seems like she found herself something too.

Kara climbs on her couch and bangs harder on her ceiling, “I can get loud too!”

They keep banging and thumping and hitting, Kara at her ceiling, Lena at her floor, until Kara can see a crack forming. As the crack gets bigger and bigger, Kara’s eyes widen and she quickly gets off the couch and takes a few steps back. 

“Hey! Stop! There’s a crack!” Kara yells as she hears Lena’s thumping gets louder.

“Luthor! Stop!”

The cracking gets more audible now and Kara’s eyes are drawn towards the ceiling. The thumping stopped but it was too late. With a whoosh, the ceiling comes crumbling down and Kara could hear Lena screaming.

“Holy shit!”

Where her ceiling used to be is now a big hole and half a Lena. Lena is hanging onto her floor, her legs dangling in Kara’s apartment.

“Help!”

Kara fumbles around looking for something and quickly picks up the fallen pieces of the ceiling from her couch and pushes the couch so it is positioned under Lena.

“Hold on!”

“I can’t! I’m slipping!”

“The couch is under you, just let go!” Kara yells back, eyeing Lena and the couch, making sure it is directly under her.

Lena peeks a little and screams back, “It’s too high!”

Kara swiftly climbs on the couch and manages to grab Lena’s feet, “I got you, just let go.”

“You’re still too far,” Lena whimpers, it feels like she’s crying now.

“Trust me, I got you. Let go,” Kara touches her legs assuringly, letting Lena know she’s under her.

Lena closes her eyes and lets go, falling onto Kara, and both of them land on Kara’s couch.

“Ow—” Lena groans in pain.

“How long are you going to stay on top of me, get off already,” Kara mumbles through Lena’s hair that is all over her face. 

Lena gets acutely aware that her nemesis is under her so she quickly gets off the couch and starts yelling, “You broke my floor!”

“Excuse me? You broke my ceiling!” Kara shouts and points to the hole above her.

“If you haven’t been doing the nasty so much and being so  _ obsessively _ loud, I wouldn’t bang my floor in the first place!” Lena argues, her voice is raised even higher than normal.

“Doing the nasty? What are you, twelve? Just say sex! You’re just being annoying! And a prude! And you walk too loud!” Kara fights back.

“I walk normal! You and your gorilla hands broke my floor!”

“Your elephant feet stomped a hole on my ceiling!”

Lena looks at Kara angrily and makes a hand gesture in the air like she wants to choke the life out of Kara. But instead, she takes a deep breath to calm herself down. Kara is not backing out and keeps her eyes on Lena, preparing to counterpoint anything she’s about to say. They stay silent for a while as the dust from the debris settles down.

“I need to stay here for tonight,” Lena rolls her eyes, knowing how ridiculous her request is.

Kara laughs a little, even she could notice how hard it was for Lena to ask her that, “Why? You have a perfectly good bedroom upstairs that still has a floor.”

“For now. Lord knows what other cracks are there? What if my bedroom falls onto yours in the middle of the night and I land on top of you again?”

“Yeah, we don’t want that,” Kara could see the logic in her argument and mumbles softly to herself, “if anything, I’m the one that’s on top.”

“What?”

“What?”

Lena shakes her head at Kara’s mumbling and continues, “So, we agree? I stay here for the night?”

“Don’t expect us to do the nasty tonight,” Kara smirks, mocking Lena’s choice of word earlier.

“Is that the only thing on your mind?” Lena asks and crosses her arms to protect herself, as if Kara would pounce on her at any moment.

“Hah! Do you think I want to get down with the spawn of the devil herself? You’re more likely to fall for me, than I would for you. I mean, you  _ literally _ fell for me tonight,” Kara says smugly as she looks up at the hole.

“I didn’t fall  _ for  _ you, I fell  _ onto _ you. Preposition is important. Also, I would never, in a million years, fall  _ for _ you, in any situation,” Lena specifies, making it clear for both Kara and her.

“And you will never find me falling for you, not even if you’re the last girl on earth,” Kara chips in as well.

“Fine by me,” Lena says, as she places her hands on her hips now.

“Good,” Kara agrees.

“Good,” Lena repeats.

“Now that everything is clear, nothing is going to happen between us,” Lena says as she points to Kara and back at herself, “I stay here for one night.”

“Just one night,” Kara agrees.

\--

It wasn’t just one night.

Kara left Lena alone to clean up and sleep on the couch.  _ I would never sleep in the same bed as you _ she said and Kara shares the same sentiment. When Kara wakes up, her apartment is spotless and was cleaner than before her ceiling fell. Lena is working on her laptop at Kara’s kitchen island and Kara groans loudly. Even her typing is annoying. Kara reaches for the coffee pot and it’s empty. She glares at Lena’s full cup and grumbles, “Seriously? You can’t even leave me some?”

“It’s my coffee beans,” Lena says as she takes a sip of her hot coffee.

“It’s my coffee pot,” Kara complains while she makes another pot and notices her empty sink, “Did you clean up in here?”

“You’re messy,” was all Lena said.

“So what? Are you like OCD or something?” Kara leans on the kitchen island and asks Lena.

“I just like things to be neat, not everything is OCD,” Lena shakes her head slightly as she replies to Kara.

“So why are you still here, Luthor?”

“Five thousand dollars, Danvers.”

“What?” Kara creases her eyebrows,  _ what is she talking about _ ?

“I got a quotation, that’s how much to fix that,” Lena points to the hole on the ceiling, “I can’t possibly stay in my apartment, and I don’t have the means anymore to pay the contractor, no thanks to you. So it seems fair if I stay here while we get the money to fix it.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara laughs a little, maybe she misheard, “did you say  _ we _ ?”

“It’s my floor and your ceiling, it’s only fair if we split the cost,” Lena replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“And what do you Luthors know about fair?” Kara laughs out loud now, “I’m NOT paying for that! You broke it! Plus, if you’re staying here, then I’m already paying more than my share!”

Lena picks up something from the floor and puts it on the kitchen island. Kara stares at the broom-hammer contraption she made the night before.

“So, you did not hammer on your ceiling last night?” Lena raises her left eyebrow as she says this.

“You… you…. Well, you were banging on your floor too! With what? A bowling ball probably!” Kara stammers as she tries to think up an excuse to get out of this.

“I wasn’t using a hammer at least,” Lena gives a small side smile and pushes the quotation she printed to Kara, “Look, you can go through the quotation, it’s from a legit contractor. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m not my mom and my brother. I’m really trying to have a fresh start here. If I have the money, I would fix that hole right now. Heck, I won’t even be staying here! If you don’t have the money, I’ll figure it out myself. But I need a place to stay.”

Lena looks sincere as she explains herself and Kara feels sorry a little bit. Just a little bit. Lena was right about one thing, Kara doesn’t trust her. 

“Fine, I’ll pay my half. I don’t want you to stay here any longer than you need to. But I don’t have 25 hundred with me now,” Kara rubs her temple while she tries to figure out how to squeeze some money out of her meager salary.

“Can you do a hundred a week? That’s all I could afford now too,” Lena offers a solution, “and you don’t have to worry about falling for me, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Kara smiles as she shakes her head, “If you catch me falling for you, I’ll pay for the whole thing.”

“Is that a bet?” Lena smiles. She rarely smiles and when she does it’s only when she’s trying to incite Kara. Kara hates her smile so much.

“How about this, I’ll pay you a hundred a week, and you’ll stay here for 25 weeks. But if one of us falls for the other, that person has to pay for the whole thing,” Kara smirks and reaches out her hand for a handshake to seal the bet.

“Deal,” Lena replies and shakes Kara’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ps when i wrote this i really thought the word fall meant fall as in falling until like halfway through writing this chapter i was like ohhhhhh it also means autumn but it was too late to change lol 
> 
> ps ps since we’re being truthful, this story is inspired by an anime hentai my friend told me about a girl falling through a guy’s ceiling and landed on his dick lmao 
> 
> ps ps ps idk how much ceilings costs


	2. baking

“Bye, muffin, miss you already,” Kara kisses Eve goodbye and closes the door. A few moments later, Lena opens the door and walks in.

“Are you done?” she looks at Kara judgmentally, and walks over to the kitchen island to open her laptop and continue doing the work she was doing earlier before Kara and her date interrupted her.

“Hey, I can’t deny the ladies if they want some of this,” Kara gestures up and down her body and Lena shakes her head and looks away, continuing her concentration on her work.

“A little warning would be appreciated,” Lena grumbles, clearly remembering a few hours earlier when Kara and Eve stumbles into the apartment while making out and Lena frantically tries to leave.

“I don’t even have your number, or do you want me to put out a sock on the door handle?” Kara smirks as she opens the fridge to get some water.

Lena rips out a small piece of paper from her notebook and furiously writes something down. “Here, my number,” she shoves the paper in Kara’s direction.

Kara picks up the paper and takes a sip of water at the same time, she eyes the number a bit longer than usual and Lena speaks up, guessing what Kara is thinking right now.

“I’m not falling for you, it’s just a number. For roommates purposes,” Lena makes it clear.

_ Roommates. More like a parasite.  _

It’s been a few days since Lena fell into her apartment and Kara still can't get used to the fact that she lives with a Luthor. Kara doesn’t care though, as she’ll bring home her usual girls and tries to avoid Lena as much as possible. For the most part, Lena keeps to herself and only uses the living room area, where the couch is her bed now, and the kitchen area to do her work. The bathroom is still the most awkward place to bump into each other, as they try to figure out a system. Kara never stops making fun of Lena for changing in the bathroom, because Kara still freely changes in plain view.  _ It’s all just body parts _ Kara argues but Lena still keeps her private parts private. Kara doesn’t know if it’s even possible to make this prude fall in love with her.

However, Kara is grateful for one thing. No matter how much investigating she did on the Luthor family, she didn’t know that Lena Luthor is such a neat freak. Her apartment has been spotless for the past few days, every single mess Kara made is cleaned up immediately. Kara does get annoyed when Lena reorganizes her kitchen cabinets, and when Kara can’t find her usual things. The one good behavior a Luthor has and it still annoys Kara immensely.

“Where’s my blue mug?” Kara asks on a Sunday morning and throws an accusatory look at Lena, who is working on her laptop at the kitchen island.

“Top shelf, bottom row,” Lena replies without looking up.

“Why can’t you just leave it in the sink? I always drink from it, it’s easier to pick it up from there,” Kara grumbles while she opens the top shelf and finds the blue mug staring back at her.

Lena walks over to the refrigerator and puts up a timetable and pins it with a fridge magnet.

“What is this?” Kara looks at the handwritten timetable.

“It’s been a week, and I’m already tired of this. For us to survive the next 24 weeks, we need to figure this out,” Lena lets out a sigh as she continues, “you need to pick up your slack. You throw your clothes on the floor, you leave dishes in the sink, you never sweep! I think the only function your broom had was as a part of a device to break your ceiling,”

“Hey!” was all Kara could say. Lena wasn’t wrong.

“Look, I work 9 to 5, you work… irregular hours that I still can’t figure out. I am willing to clean up on every other weekday and on the weekends. All you need to do is pick up your clothes, clean your dishes and throw out the trash. Can you at least manage that?”

Kara takes a look at the timetable. It splits between chores and Kara has most of the dishes and trash duties. Lena takes it upon herself to clean the shower, sweep and mop the floors. Guess she doesn’t trust Kara enough to do the heavy cleaning duties. 

“Yeah, okay. Whatever,” Kara shrugs and tries to brush it off. Inside, she’s actually really happy she doesn’t have to clean the shower anymore.

“And you owe me a hundred,” Lena announced, “it’s been one week.”

“Can’t you just trust me enough that I have all 25 hundred by the end of our arrangement?” Kara tries to haggle. She was still hoping she could seduce Lena before the end of this so she doesn’t have to pay her share. 

“I’m not going to fall for you, so I need that hundred now,” Lena holds out her hand and smiles.

Kara hates that smile. She angrily walks to her purse and takes out a crisp hundred dollar bill and shoves it in Lena’s hands.

“24 more weeks,” Lena smiles again.

“You’re right, you’re not like your mother and your brother,” Kara says and the smile on Lena’s face starts to fade away at the mention of her family.

“Yeah?” Lena asks again for confirmation.

“You’re worse.”

Lena rolls her eyes at that and keeps Kara’s money aside. 

\--

“Babe, no!” Lucy laughs as Kara wipes a few of the sticky dough on her.

“Sweetie pie, now you’re more like sticky pie,” Kara laughs as she gives Lucy a quick kiss.

Lucy gives in to the kiss but when Kara wants a deeper one she backs away and eyes at Lena that is on the same kitchen island.

“Just ignore her,” Kara whispers.

“She’s right there, babe,” Lucy looks at Lena again.

“You don’t have to whisper, I can hear you,” Lena proclaims as she continues typing.

“There are other areas in this apartment, you know? Can you be somewhere else while we try to bake these delicious cinnamon rolls?” Kara argues.

“The Wi-Fi signal is the strongest here,” Lena counters.

Kara ignores her and continues baking with Lucy. They don’t have a mixer so they mix the dough by hand and giggle away while paying no attention to Lena that is doing whatever work she’s doing on a Saturday.

“Now what, babe?” Lucy asks as she oils the big bowl. 

Kara dumps the mixed dough into the bowl and looks at the recipe on her phone. “Now we cover it and wait for it to rise for an hour,” Kara says.

Kara walks over to the drawer and is about to open the top row when Lena stops her, “Towels are in the third row.”

Kara throws her head back and shouts, “What is wrong with leaving the kitchen towels in the first row?”

“Not when you also have towels in the second and last drawer, I just gathered every clean kitchen towel in one place. Fine, I’ll make labels,” Lena types more furiously, and Kara assumes she has started working on the labels immediately.

“So, Miss Luthor,” Lucy asks, clearly unfazed by Kara’s new roommate, “is it true? All your assets are frozen?”

Lena seems taken aback at Lucy’s question but answers anyway, “Yes, it’s true.”

“Everything but that ring. It’s gorgeous,” Lucy points out the diamond ring on Lena’s index finger.

“This doesn’t belong to the Luthors. This is my mom’s,” Lena answers straightforwardly, which makes Lucy apologize with a quick  _ sorry _ .

It wasn’t a secret that Lena Luthor is not actually a “real Luthor”. She’s the daughter of the late Lionel Luthor and his mistress and was adopted into the family after her mother passed away. During Kara’s investigation on the Luthors, Lena’s past still remains a mystery. Everything she knows about Lena is after she was adopted into the family and even that wasn’t much. She keeps a private life, unlike her half brother who unabashedly flaunts his wealth everywhere he goes. Kara still remains skeptical of Lena. Even if she’s not Lillian Luthor’s real daughter, she doubts Lena is on the outs on their family heinous crimes. True, the court let her go, but that’s only because they couldn’t find the evidence they needed. Maybe, if she prods a bit more, she can prove to the world that Lena actually is a true Luthor. I mean, she is already scamming Kara to stay at her apartment while they get money to fix the hole.

“Babe, this recipe says we need powdered sugar for the icing later, do you have it?” Lucy asks as she browses through the recipe on Kara’s phone.

“She doesn’t have powdered sugar, just the normal ones,” Lena answers on Kara’s behalf, and Kara gets visibly annoyed at how well acquainted Lena is with her kitchen.

“It’s okay, I’ll go get it,” Lucy grabs her jacket and heads for the door. 

“You sure, sweetie pie?” Kara asks again.

“Yeah, just stay here, I’ll be right back. It’ll take a while for it to rise, right?” Lucy reassures Kara and gives her a peck before she heads out.

When Kara walks back over to the kitchen island, she lifts up the cloth to take a peek at her dough.

“You should leave it and let it rise properly, don’t keep peeking,” Lena informs her.

“What do you know about baking?” Kara scoffs. Sure, Lena knows fencing, polo, ballroom dancing, and she speaks 6 languages, but Kara doesn't remember anything about baking during her research on Lena Luthor.

“Before she passed, my mom owned a bakery in Midvale.”

At the mention of her hometown, Kara perks up, “Your mom is from Midvale? I’m from Midvale!”

Lena looks up from her laptop and stares at Kara. “I left in ‘92 when I got adopted by the Luthors. I’m sure you know that.”

“Everyone knows the Luthors adopted you when you were 6. It's literally on your wiki page. But I didn’t know you were from Midvale! I think Lionel Luthor made sure all your past was scrubbed out. I couldn’t find anything on you before you got adopted,” Kara tells her the truth.

“Not my dad. Lillian. She’s… not a huge fan of my mom,” Lena explains. 

“1992, huh? I think we just missed each other. I got adopted into the Danvers early ‘92,” Kara spills some of her background to Lena.

“You’re adopted too?”

“Yeah, both my parents died in an accident.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s a long time ago. Hey, look at that, we have something in common. We’re both adopted,” Kara smiles.

“I think you being adopted by the Danvers, and me adopted by the Luthors doesn’t count as something in common,” Lena lets out a small laugh.

Kara’s phone rings and she picks it up immediately.

“Yeah? Um, I’m not sure, gimme a sec,” Kara covers her phone and asks Lena, “Hey Luthor, the store doesn’t have powdered sugar, is confectioners sugar okay?”

“It’s the same thing,” Lena answers.

“Sweetie pie, it’s the same thing. Yeah, one bag should be enough. Okay, bye.”

“Does she know?” Lena asks when Kara hangs up the phone.

“Know what? Difference between sugars? Unlikely,” Kara quips.

“Your sweetie pie. Does she know about your muffin, your honey, and are all your pet names food related? Do you even know their names?” Lena speaks out against Kara’s infidelity.

Kara lets out a huge laugh that takes Lena by surprise.

“Look, I try to respect your privacy by not saying anything in front of them, but you can’t expect me to stay silent when I see it happening right before my eyes.”

“Have you ever heard of friends with benefits?” Kara lets out a rhetorical question as she tries to stifle a laughter.

Of course Lena has. And now she regrets confronting Kara and blushes as she continues typing on her laptop.

“Don’t worry, Luthor. They’re all my friends and are aware of each other. I don’t lie to people,” Kara explains further.

“Is that a dig on my family, Danvers?”

“I didn’t say it, you assumed it. What does that say about your family?” Kara smirks.

When Lena stays silent, Kara tries to clarify even further, “You don’t have to worry about me, I’m not looking for anything serious. We’re just having fun.”

“What an attractive quality,” Lena rolls her eyes and scoffs.

“Hey, if that’s a dealbreaker, I won’t hang out with them anymore and just pay attention to you,” Kara says to Lena as she props herself on her elbows and flutters her eyes in an exaggerated manner.

“Your hundred is still due tomorrow, and no, I’m not falling for,” Lena waves her hand at Kara’s face, “whatever this is.”

To Lena’s chagrin, Kara just laughs it off and takes another quick peek at her dough.

\--

Lena has moved to the couch to avoid vomiting at the public display of affection between Kara and Lucy. Between the kissings and the gigglings and the licking icing from fingers, Lena just had about enough. Unfortunately for her, Kara’s apartment is small and soon they join Lena in the living room after putting their cinnamon rolls in the oven. The tension was palpable even though all they're doing is silently watching the television. Lucy looks up at the hole, which is now covered with carpet from Lena’s apartment, “Guess you’re not getting your security deposit back, huh?”

“Nah, we’ll fix it soon. The landlord doesn’t have to know about this,” Kara tells her.

“Miss Luthor, you really fell through there?” Lucy asks Lena out of the blue.

“Thanks to your girlfriend’s mighty effort to hammer her own ceiling,” Lena answers, her eyes on the television watching a random movie.

Lucy starts laughing and puts her arms over Kara, “She’s not my girlfriend. And Kara told me you defended my honor, thanks for that.”

“Calling out something that I see is wrong can hardly constitute defending someone’s honor,” Lena replies, trying to downplay her action.

“Nothing wrong with casual sex, you prude,” Kara glares at Lena.

“Far be it for me to report what’s wrong and what’s correct, right?” Lena replies and throws the same glare back at Kara.

“Stealing money from half of National City is definitely wrong,” Kara throws back a fast jab.

“Okay!” Lucy stands up quickly and claps awkwardly in an attempt to break off the argument that’s about to get heated, “Babe, let’s go check on our rolls.”

“We still have 5 more minutes,” Kara pulls on Lucy’s hands to get her back on the couch.

Lucy maneuvers her hands and pulls Kara up instead, “Let’s go check anyway.”

They stay in front of the oven and just watch their cinnamon rolls bake to perfection while Lena continues watching the movie absent mindlessly. 

Lena’s train of thought was interrupted by a loud noise of the baking tray hitting the floor.

“Ah!”

“Babe!”

Lena goes to Lucy who is in a panic so she asks calmly, “What happened?”

“Kara forgot to wear the oven mitts and just touched the tray!”

Kara is groaning on the floor clutching her hands so Lena just looks down at her, “Get up, run your hands through cold water.”

Kara slowly gets up and Lena lets the cold water run in the sink as she guides Kara’s hand under it. 

“Just stay here for a few minutes,” Lena instructs as she grabs the oven mitts and helps them salvage whatever cinnamon rolls she can while holding the hot baking tray.

“Thank you, Miss Luthor,” Lucy says in a grateful tone.

“Please, just Lena. If you’re going to be here all the time, I think we should be on a first name basis.”

Lucy just nods and thanks her again. Lena puts the tray on the kitchen island and opens the freezer to grab a bag of frozen peas. She goes over to Kara and holds her hand that is still under the running water. Kara is taken aback slightly at the sudden attention Lena is showing her.

“There’s no blister, you should be fine,” Lena observes, “does it still hurt?”

“N-not so much,” Kara mustered a reply.

Lena stops the running water and gives her the packet of frozen peas, “Hold this. I’ll go up to my apartment to get some aloe vera gel.”

Lucy is about to pour the icing on the cinnamon rolls when Lena’s hands stop her, “Wait for the rolls to cool off first or the icing will melt. And get your not-girlfriend to sit down and rest.”

Lena leaves the apartment so Lucy guides Kara to the couch. As they sit down, Lucy says, “She’s surprisingly very caring.”

Kara didn’t say anything back and just nodded as she held the bag of frozen peas. Maybe she’s wrong about Lena Luthor.

They could hear Lena in her apartment, and Kara’s eyes widen when she sees the crack in the ceiling gets bigger, “Hey Luthor, walk carefully up there!”

Lena lifts the carpet and looks at them through the hole, “I am! Do you think I want to fall again?”

Kara just shakes her head and laughs a little. 

“Heads up!” Lena yells from above and a tube of aloe vera gel falls through the hole, hits Kara on her head, and lands into her lap.

“Ow!” Kara shouts back and looks up at Lena who has an  _ oops _ face.

Lena Luthor is still annoying. But just for today, Kara hates her a little less than usual.


	3. dancing

“Where’s my water?” Kara asks as she looks for her blue mug that she left on the counter.

“I cleaned it up,” Lena answers while she types on her laptop, in her usual working space at the kitchen island.

“I was still drinking!” Kara complains as she opens the top shelf. There it is, her blue mug is cleaned and dried.

“It was out for more than 10 minutes, I thought you were done.”

“Ugh! There’s no time limit to drinking!” Kara groans as she takes the mug and fills it up with water again. 

While she is drinking, she walks behind Lena and asks, “What are you always typing there anyway?”

Lena slams her laptop shut and glares at Kara, “Excuse me!”

“Jeez, sorry. I didn’t even see, I was just asking.”

“You have most of the space in this apartment, just let me have the couch and the kitchen island, that’s all I ask,” Lena calms down and turns on her laptop again once Kara is away from her.

“You’re taking two of the most shared areas in this apartment, don’t be ridiculous. I can walk wherever I want to in here,” Kara declares.

“Fine, then we’ll split it in half,” Lena rolls her eyes. She feels like she rolls her eyes too much lately every time she’s with Kara, it’s giving her a headache.

“Okay, you want to play it like that? We can do that,” Kara opens the drawers one by one. She pulls one open, looks into it, and slams it close again when the thing she’s looking for is not there.

“I’ve already labeled all the drawers, what are you even looking for?” Lena rolls her eyes again. More headache ensues. 

“The duct tape.”

“That bottom drawer,” Lena points to the drawer next to the refrigerator.

“Stop moving my stuff,” Kara grunts as she opens the drawer and takes out a duct tape.

Lena crosses her arms and defends herself, “You have to admit it’s more organized now.”

Kara starts to tape right down the middle of the kitchen island countertop

“That side is yours, this side is mine,” Kara declares as she sets her mug on her side, “anything on my side, you leave it alone.”

“You’re such a child,” Lena shakes her head at Kara’s behaviour.

“You’re free to tape down any area in this apartment,” Kara offers and hands Lena the duct tape.

“Okay,” Lena grabs the tape and opens the refrigerator, and starts taping all the trays right down the middle. 

Then, Lena pushes all the food to the right side and announces, “Anything on my side, you’re not allowed to eat!”

“When have I ever eaten your food?” Kara disputes the accusation.

“My yogurt yesterday morning? My grapes last week? My ice cream!” Lena counterpoints, clearly letting out the anger she’s been holding back.

“Eve ate your yogurt, I think Lucy ate the grapes and you didn’t label the ice cream, it’s free for all if you didn’t label it,” Kara grins, “also it was really gross, who eats low calorie ice cream?”

“I do!” Lena huffs. 

“You’re free to take my food from the fridge, it’s a place of sharing. What kind of person doesn’t share food?” Kara tries to argue her position again.

“You don’t even have any food in the fridge! You only have beer!” Lena replies in disgust.

“Which you are free to take if you want,” Kara raises her eyebrows and points to the row of beers in the fridge.

“That side is yours, this side is mine. Anything on my side, you leave it alone,” Lena repeats Kara’s earlier sentiment about the kitchen island.

Kara grabs the duct tape and runs to the television in the living room and tapes it right down the middle, “That side is yours, this side is mine. Anything on my side, you’re not allowed to watch.”

Lena grabs the duct tape from Kara and starts to tape down the floors, “This is my side, you’re not allowed to step in here.”

They argue back and forth and spend the whole morning taping down everything in the apartment, right down to the mirror in the bathroom.

\--

Kara is watching a dance tutorial on her iPad on her side of the kitchen island, while Lena is doing her usual typing on her laptop. Her eyes keep going back and forth between Kara fumbling her steps and her laptop. After an hour of watching Kara struggle, Lena decides to speak up.

“It’s been an hour, how have you still not mastered this? It’s just a simple basic box step.”

“Not everyone is a ballroom dancer like you,” Kara pouts.

Lena smiles a little. She knows Kara did her investigation on her family, but she still gets a little bit impressed when Kara knows something that’s not a common knowledge about her.

“Why are you learning to dance anyway? And you have more space to practice on your side there,” Lena points to the taped up floor near the living room.

“You know that the Wi-Fi signal is the strongest here! And Sam is invited to a gala so she wants me to be her date. I want to master this waltz at least,” Kara explains, eyes still on her iPad watching the dance tutorial.

“Is Sam muffin or honey? She’s the tall brunette, right?” Lena asks, already accustomed to Kara’s parade of girls she brings to her apartment.

“Sam is honey, muffin is Eve. And yeah, that’s Sam,” Kara clarifies.

“I still find it ridiculous you assign them all food names,” Lena rolls her eyes and tries to fight back a headache.

“Do you want one?” Kara stops her terrible dancing and looks at Lena, “Stinky tofu is still available, or do you prefer rotten carcasses?”

“You eat rotten carcasses? Why am I not surprised?” Lena replies and throws an unimpressed look at Kara’s name suggestion.

Kara repeats Lena’s  _ why am I not surprised _ in a mocking tone in lieu of a response and Lena rolls her eyes yet again. After another ten minutes of dancing, if you could even call it that, Lena gets fed up and stands from her chair.

“I can’t stand to watch this any longer. If you want to learn how to dance, let me help,” Lena offers and closes her eyes, waiting for a jab from Kara to make fun of her.

“Okay,” Kara replies instead and Lena is surprised at the response.

“Okay,” Lena repeats, and before she takes a step inside Kara’s area she asks for confirmation, “permission to step in?”

“Permission granted,” Kara waves a hand as if to offer Lena an imaginary access.

Lena takes a step in and suddenly gets very aware how close she is to Kara. She swallows a little before asking, “Are you leading or Sam?”

“I don’t know the difference,” Kara shrugs.

“Okay, I’ll lead first and you follow,” Lena says and takes Kara’s hands to put on her shoulder, while she puts her hand on Kara’s hips.

“This is the basic box step for waltz, you just follow my feet, okay? It’s one, two, three. One, two, three. Very simple.”

Kara nods while looking down at their feet.

“Okay, I’m going to move my left foot forward, so you move your right foot back. That’s it, that’s step one,” Lena instructs and Kara follows her directions while her eyes are still looking down at their feet.

“Next, I’m going to the side with my right foot, so you go to the left. That’s it. And you close your right foot to your left foot. That’s the first one, two, three. You got it,” Lena praises Kara.

“Do it again, but this time the opposite. Now I’m going back with my right foot, so you go to the front with your left. Good. You go to the side with your right, and close your left foot to the right foot. That’s it, you’re dancing.”

“Oh hey, would you look at that,” Kara smiles while her head is still looking down.

They practice dancing a few more rounds together, but Kara's face is still facing their feet, being careful not to step on Lena.

“You need to look Sam in the eyes when you dance,” Lena says and she takes a finger and lifts Kara’s chin up to face her.

“You’re not Sam,” Kara smirks.

“Just pretend, Danvers,” Lena rolls her eyes again, “you need to practice. One more time.”

“One, two, three. One, two, three,” Lena counts as they dance like how they practiced earlier, this time looking at each other in the eyes.

Kara is looking into Lena’s eyes so intensely that Lena breaks into a laugh in the middle of their dancing.

Kara takes a step back and puts her hands on her hips and asks in an annoyed tone, “What? Did I miss a step?”

“No,” Lena tries to stifle her laughter, “what was that look? Are you falling for me? Can I expect a full payment for the repair soon?”

“Ha! You wish! You were the one who told me to pretend you’re Sam! If I was dancing with a Luthor, I would look more like this,” Kara says and does a repulsed face.

“Charming,” Lena replies.

“Permission revoked. Go back to your area,” Kara shoos Lena away.

“Okay,” Lena steps out from Kara’s area and sits back on her chair, “just remember, if you do fall for me, full payment for that,” Lena points to the hole in the ceiling.

“You’re the one who offered to teach and stepped into my area,” Kara leans in on the kitchen island, as close to Lena’s area as possible without crossing in, “I think you’re the one falling for me, Luthor.”

“I just can’t stand watching your futile attempt at dancing any longer. Don’t mistake pity for affection,” Lena denies.

“And I was just pretending you’re Sam,” Kara clears the air once again.

“As long as we’re both clear about it,” Lena says.

“Crystal,” Kara reiterates.

Lena continues to type on her laptop while Kara browses more dancing videos on her iPad, both doing their work in silence. Both trying hard to forget about the gaze they gave each other during the dance. 


	4. dog

“Achoo!” Lena sneezes as soon as she steps in the apartment.

When she sees Kara with a dog in the living room, she marches up to them and informs, “Uh uh, no! Get that dog out of here. I’m allergic. Achoo!”

“This is Comet!” Kara introduces the dog cheerfully to Lena.

“I don’t care if it’s a comet or a meteor, no dogs in this apartment!”

“Meatier?”   
“Meteor!”

“Come on, you remember my reporting on that illegal dog fighting ring last week? Comet is rescued from there,” Kara explains.

Of course, Lena remembered Kara’s report, it was all she’s been doing the past few weeks. It was a huge day when her report was finally published, she even had Lucy, Eve and Sam came over to celebrate. Lena made up an excuse and got out of the way as it was too awkward for her to see three of Kara’s non-girlfriend in the same room at the same time. The concept of friends with benefits is still foreign to Lena. In fact, even the concept of friends alone is foreign to her. 

When Lena takes a closer look at the Pit Bull Terrier, she can see the scars and injuries the dog had, probably due to his years in the ring. 

“I’m sorry, Danvers. I’m still allergic. Can you find someone to take Comet in?” Lena tries to hold back a sneeze and suggests a solution. She pities Comet, but being near dogs makes her sneeze and gives her skin irritation.

“I guess I’ll ask around, but we need to room him here for a few days," Kara says and takes Comet’s face in her hands, “sorry, Comet. Cruella de Vil here is allergic to you.”

“Cruella de Vil is never allergic to dogs, she just wants their fur,” Lena replies while holding her nose in an attempt to hold a sneeze.

“Of course you’d know your villains,” Kara stands up and gives a condescending smile.

“Just… don’t let Comet come near my area,” Lena says and takes a step back when Comet is walking in Lena's direction, “Danvers, get this dog away from me!”

“Relax, Luthor. Comet, stay,” Kara directs Comet and he obliges, “Comet, come.”

When Comet is near Kara again, Kara makes sure Comet pays attention to her, “Comet,” and Kara points to Lena, “Evil.”

Lena puts down her laptop bag and shakes her head.

“Evil, bad. Evil, leave it,” Kara gives instructions to Comet and Comet just wags his tails and licks Kara’s face, “Good boy, good boy.”

“If he comes anywhere near me, I’ll send him back to the fighting ring,” Lena says in a deadpan tone.

Kara covers’ Comet’s ears and gives Lena a horrified look, “Luthor!”

“I’m not kidding,” Lena says it seriously and Kara looks at her angrily. 

She calls for Comet to come by her bed and asks him to stay while she calls all her friends to see who would take him.

\--

“Danvers! He’s in my area again!” Lena shouts from the couch.

“Just play with him for a while, I’m getting his lunch,” Kara opens all the cabinets to look for the dog food. When she opens the cabinet labeled ‘Medicines & first-aid’ her eyes land on an unfamiliar bottle. She picks it up and examines it.

_ Antihistamines. _

She looks over at Lena who is using her feet to drive Comet away from her. It was a futile attempt as Comet thinks Lena is playing with him. Comet is happily wagging his tail and playing around Lena’s feet.

Kara laughs at the image and puts back Lena’s allergy medication back in the cabinet, and opens more drawers to look for the dog food.

“Hey Luthor, where’s the dog food?” Kara shouts to Lena.

“Drawer B3, didn’t you see the updated list?!” Lena shouts back.

Kara opens the third row of the second drawer to the left, and takes out the dog food. Comet comes running the moment he hears the rustling sound of Kara scooping out his lunch.

“Hey there boy, did you have fun playing with Evil?”

\--

Lena cranes her neck and starts massaging her own shoulder as she is hunched over her laptop, typing away on the kitchen island.

Kara notices the movement from her area of the kitchen island and asks, “Sore?”

Comet comes to Lena with a ball, Lena takes it from his mouth and she throws it to the other end of the apartment while she answers Kara, “A bit.”

“You can sleep on my bed if you want,” Kara offers.

“You would like that,” Lena replies, eyes still on her laptop as Comet comes at her feet again with the ball in his mouth.

“Oh, Luthor. Always thinking that everyone wants them in bed,” Kara teases, “I’ll be away on assignment for a few days, you can sleep in my bed while I’m gone.”

“A few days? I have to take care of Comet alone? It’s been a week, Danvers!” Lena starts scratching her neck, Kara could see the red spots clearly on Lena’s pale skin.

“After I come back, I swear I’ll sort it out. Please? You can have my bed,” Kara begs.

“Fine,” Lena agrees.

“It’s not that I hate him,” Lena says after a few moments of silence as she looks over at Kara, “I swear I’m allergic.”

“I’ll take care of it, I promise,” Kara says.

This time Comet brings the ball to Kara and Kara takes it from his mouth to throw it away.

\--

Kara comes back after 3 days of leaving her apartment. Tired and exhausted, she opens the door lazily, and gets herself mentally prepared for whatever verbal assault Lena Luthor has for her for leaving her alone with Comet.

Lena is on the couch watching television so Kara walks over and asks something she noticed the minute she walks into the quiet apartment, “Where’s Comet?” 

“With Eve,” Lena answers nonchalantly. 

“What do you mean with Eve?” 

“Comet is with Eve,” Lena looks at Kara and repeats her answer again.

“What the hell, Luthor? I told you I’ll take care of it when I get back! Who gave you the right!” Kara yells at Lena.

“You took too long,” Lena shrugs. The way Lena is treating this like it’s nothing is making Kara more pissed off than usual, not to mention she’s exhausted from her assignments on top of it.

“Look, I could see spending a month on the couch is too much for your body who is used to an extravagant lifestyle, that’s why I offered you my bed. But you gave my dog away? That’s too far, Luthor! I don’t know why I was being kind. You just proved all you Luthors are the same!” 

Lena kept quiet and didn’t say anything back so it made Kara angrier than usual.

“I’m getting Comet back!” Kara yells as she leaves the apartment.

\--

“Babe,” Eve looks at Kara in surprise when she opens the door.

“Where’s Comet?” the minute Kara asks the question Comet comes running to lick Kara’s face, “Hey there, boy. Did you miss me?”

“Where is his leash?” Kara asks Eve, while still petting Comet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking him back.”

“Babe, Lena is allergic to Comet,” Eve tells her.

Kara laughs in disbelief, “Is that what she told you? It’s nothing, she’s been taking medication. She’s not even that allergic.”

“Kara,” Eve holds Kara’s hands to calm her down, she could see Kara is getting riled up, “she didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“The first night you were gone, she slept in your bed. I think because Comet’s fur is all over your bed she had a severe allergic reaction. She broke out in hives and she had an asthma attack. She spent the last two nights at the hospital. I was the one who offered to take Comet home with me,” Eve explains and Kara just stands there in shock, unable to say anything at this new revelation.

“She didn’t have anyone else. She called Lucy first, but Lucy is away. Lucy called me,” Eve adds on.

“I-I didn’t… she didn’t tell me,” Kara looks down at Comet, now regretting all the things she yelled earlier to Lena.

“I found someone who wants to take Comet in, if you want to meet up with them first? They’re a family, the daughter loves Comet already when I brought him to them.”

“I…” Kara takes a deep breath, this is too much information for her brain to handle in one night, “can I stay here tonight, muffin?”

“Sure, babe.”

\--

Kara waits by the kitchen island for Lena to walk in. She takes a look at the clock again, Lena should be back from work any minute now. When Kara hears the jangling of the keys outside the door, she straightens her back, readying herself to greet Lena.

Lena is unfazed when she sees Kara and doesn't say anything as she quietly places her laptop bag and her takeout dinner on the counter. She takes a plate from the cabinet and sits at her side of the kitchen island, while she pours her salad on the plate to eat.

“Say something,” Kara breaks the silence.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” Lena responds as she stabs a piece of lettuce.

“Do you want me to apologize? Is that what you want?” Kara didn’t mean to raise her voice, but Lena acting like nothing happened infuriates her.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Lena replies calmly.

“I got you admitted to the hospital! You could have died!” Kara raises her voice again, how is Lena so calm after all that happened?

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, Danvers. It’s just an allergic reaction,” Lena says as she takes another bite of her salad.

“Lena, can we stop? With this whole i-hate-you façade?” Kara pleads. This is a life or death matter and Kara wants to take it seriously.

“It’s a façade?” Lena laughs a little.

“I’m really sorry here. I didn’t know you were that allergic,” Kara apologizes.

Lena takes a pause from eating her dinner and looks up at Kara, sensing how sincere Kara is at the moment, “I told you.”

“I know,” Kara sighs, “I saw your allergy medication, I thought you had it under control. I feel like such a jerk now. I’m really sorry.”

“I thought I had it under control too,” Lena confesses, “I miss Comet. I don’t hate him, you know?”

“We can still visit him if you want. I’ve met the family that adopted Comet, they’re nice.”

“That’s good.”

“Again, I’m sorry,” Kara apologizes yet again, looking down at her fingers.

This time Lena responds with a dry laugh.

“What?” Kara asks as she looks up to Lena.

“I feel like this is the most you’ve apologized to me.”

“Well, you almost died.”

“Again, you’re giving yourself too much credit. It was just an allergy reaction,” Lena tries to downplay her allergy, like she didn’t spend two days being admitted.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m really sorry about this. I’m not sorry about the other stuff I did.”

“Like getting my step mom and brother arrested? Breaking my floor? Eating my ice cream again?” Lena digs up all of Kara's past actions towards her.

“Not sorry about that at all. You broke my ceiling. And wasn’t me,” Kara answers all of Lena’s questions in one go.

“You should really tell all your non-girlfriends to stop eating my food,” Lena replies in an exasperated tone.

“They’re your friends now too. I heard you tried to contact Lucy.”

“Good thing I have her number. I don’t know who else to call. All my families are in jail.”

“That’s such a bad joke. You’re so dumb,” Kara laughs a little, glad the heavy air around them starts to lighten.

“As dumb as someone who holds a hot baking tray without oven mitts?” Lena throws in a quick jab, she’s equally glad they could talk like normal again.

“That was just carelessness,” Kara defends herself.

“As dumb as someone who can’t master a simple dance after an hour of watching tutorial videos?”

“The instructions were unclear. You should do your own tutorial, you’re a better teacher.”

“As dumb as someone who almost killed her own roommate?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty dumb,” Kara gives a bitter smile, she really regrets on being stubborn at keeping Comet in the apartment.

Lena feels sorry at bringing the issue back up again and tries to reassure Kara, “I’m fine now. It’s all good.”

“Can we, can we have a reset? On this whole thing? I’m so tired of fighting with you. I still have to face you for 5 more months.”

“Don’t fall for me now, Danvers,” Lena gives a sly smirk at Kara’s softness.

“No falling, just… friends?” Kara offers a hand for Lena to shake on.

“You sure?” Lena asks again. She drops her fork but is wary about returning Kara’s handshake.

“Just shake my hand, Luthor.”

Lena smiles and shakes Kara’s hand. They have 20 more weeks of staying together, maybe being friends is not such a bad idea.


	5. family

“Wake up, sleepyhead! I’m in town!”

A loud presence woke Lena up from her slumber. She usually stays in during the weekend and did not appreciate the sudden jolt on this lovely Saturday morning.

“New girl? Who are you supposed to be? Cinnamon roll? Sweet buns?” the tall figure with short hair bombards Lena with questions. She looks around her to see if she’s somewhere else. Nope, she’s in Kara’s bed, an arrangement they made where Lena could sleep in her bed if Kara is away on assignments.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Lena throws back the same question at the mysterious person.

“Alex Danvers,” the person answers.

_ Danvers? Oh. _

“Kara is in…” Lena doesn’t know where Kara is as she never tells Lena where she goes, “she’s away. On an assignment.”

“Are you her new girl?” Alex asks and plops down on the bed next to Lena.

“Ew, no,” Lena looks disgusted as she replies, “I’m her… roommate, I guess? She broke my floor. I’m staying here while we get the money to get it fixed.”

“You know, you look really familiar,” Alex squints her eyes and looks at Lena with such intensity that Lena pulls up the blanket higher to cover herself.

“I’m Lena Luthor,” Lena tells the truth, there was no need to hide anyway.

“The Luthor that Kara wrote about last year? THAT Luthor?” Alex asks again in surprise.

“Well, her report was more on my step mom and brother but yes, that Luthor,” Lena confirms.

“And you’re staying with her?” Alex looks at Lena warily, as if Lena is up to something.

“Trust me, if I have the choice I wouldn’t have. Like I said, she broke my floor,” Lena points to the hole in the ceiling of the living room, “which is also her ceiling, So, we’re splitting the repair cost.”

Alex walks over to the living room and Lena follows.

“How the hell did that happen?” Alex laughs as she looks at the hole.

“Long story,” was all Lena could say. She didn’t know where to start.

“I have all day. Go get ready, Lena Luthor. Let’s have brunch!”

“What?”

“Like I said, I have all day. Let’s get to know each other!” Alex grins.

\--

“Wait, is your mom’s bakery called Kieran’s bakery?” 

“Yeah! The one on the corner opposite-”

“Midvale’s Diner!” both Alex and Lena answered at the same time.

“No way! I used to go there with my mom when I was a kid! They closed down when Kara joined our family,” Alex exclaims.

“You did? I was always at the bakery. I don’t remember anyone though, I was too young,” Lena reminisced. 

“No, wait. Are you always playing by the cashier? I remember you. Everyone calls you…” Alex rubs her forehead in an attempt to remember, “Little Lee!” 

“Oh my god, it’s been a while since someone called me by that name,” Lena smiles as she remembers the nickname fondly, back when her life is less complicated.

“Little Lee! It’s me, Alex!” Alex introduces herself again and tousles Lena’s hair. 

“I don’t remember you but I do have a vague memory of someone always doing that to me when I was a kid,” Lena grumbles as she quickly combs back her hair with her fingers.

They continue talking about Lena’s memories of Midvale and her childhood all the way back to Kara’s apartment. Lena makes two cups of coffee and brings it to Alex who is on the couch.

“Explain to me why there is a tape in the middle of the TV again?”

“That’s her area, this is mine. Everything in this apartment is equally split up and we can’t go into each other’s areas,” Lena explains.

“This is so stupid,” Alex gets up and rips off the tape from the TV, “tell her the TV is for everyone.”

“There’s also one on the bathroom mirror,” Lena laughs when Alex looks back at her in disbelief as she sits back down.

“Is that all your stuff?” Alex points to a box and a duffel bag next to the couch.

“Just all my clothes and everyday items mostly."

"That's ALL your clothes?" Alex asks in surprise. She's not a fashionista but she owns twice as much clothes. Hell, maybe three times as much. She looks again at Lena, fully comprehending the impact of being thrown out a rich lifestyle with just the clothes on your back.

"I do research engineering so most of the time I work in a lab and wear a lab coat everyday anyway. They don't really care about the variety of clothes I own. My other stuff is still upstairs.”

Alex looks up when Lena mentions her apartment, staring at the hole.

“You can’t stay at your apartment?”

“I feel like it’s not stable? If that makes any sense. Like the foundation of the floor is shaken up or something. Your sister said every time I’m up there she could feel the ceiling creaking, so I try not to go up as often. It’s just temporary, I’ll move out of her hair once I get it fixed.”

“But if either one of you falls in love with the other, that person has to pay for the whole thing?” Alex inquires, concentrating on one particular information from Lena’s long story from brunch.

“It was just a joke bet, she’s not going to fall in love with me, I don’t think she will ever like me,” Lena replies as she takes a sip of her coffee, “we’ve saved up for 6 weeks now, so just 19 more weeks of me staying here till we get the money for the repairs.”

“Do you like her?”

“What?”   
“My sister. You said she will never like you, but do you like her?” Alex asks again.

Lena starts laughing a bit, “No way. Like I said, it’s a joke bet. No one is going to fall for one another. Trust me, no one is going to bear the full amount. We’ll just share it.”

“Kara is not someone who is looking for a relationship,” Alex divulges, trying to gauge Lena’s reaction.

“Oh, I know,” Lena looks back at Alex with an expressionless face. 

“Kara has her fair share of… romances. If you could call it that,” Alex smiles as she takes a sip of her coffee.

“I’m fully aware,” Lena smirks, “I think I’m friends with Eve? We text each other sometimes. It’s weird.”

“Which one is Eve?”

“The short, blonde one. Kara calls her muffin?”

“Ah, muffin. Better than lamb chop.”

“Oh my god, she has one she calls lamb chop? I haven’t met her,” Lena laughs as she leans into the couch, she feels so at ease talking to Alex.

“It was someone from out of town. For the life of me, I can’t remember her name. Doesn’t matter, all the girls in her life come and go, that’s why she never introduces me to them. Maybe that’s the reason why she didn’t tell me about you,” Alex looks at Lena as she says it, trying to imply something.

“Oh, please. I’m not one of the girls that she sleeps around with,” Lena scoffs.

“I don’t know, Lena. I found you in her bed this morning,” Alex raises her eyebrows up and down as she looks at Lena.

“I told you! She lets me sleep in her bed if she’s away!”

“I’m just kidding. I don’t mind if she falls for you. I like you,” Alex raises her cup of coffee as if to toast her acceptance of Lena.

“If she does, you better help her pay for that,” Lena smiles as she eyes the hole above them and Alex just laughs at Lena’s comment.

“Hey, if she is willing to settle down, I’d be up to chip in whatever the amount is. You have my word,” Alex promises.

“She won’t though, I’m sure of it,” Lena whispers to herself as she takes another sip of her drink.

\--

Alex wakes up to Lena sweeping the apartment, she could see more cleaning equipment laid out at the sides, and assumes Lena will be doing a thorough cleaning for today.

“Need any help?” Alex asks as she stretches in bed.

“Oh, sorry if I woke you up. Breakfast is ready if you want. You can stay in bed, it’s fine. This is what I do on Sundays,” Lena reassures Alex as she continues her sweeping.

“No, I’ll help. Are we doing the windows today? I’ll get the rags,” Alex announced as she gets up from bed.

“I just want you to know you’re my favorite Danvers,” Lena puts a hand on her chest and feels thankful for Alex’s help.

“Please. I’ve lived with my sister most of my life. I’ve never seen her apartment this clean before, I know it was all you.”

\--

So, letters are the cabinets, numbers are their rows?” Alex asks as she browses through Lena’s list.

“Yes! So this one is A, B up till the one next to the refrigerator is E. So, if you want to find cutleries for example, it’s B1, this drawer,” Lena explains happily, finally someone is actually browsing through her list.

“This is very organized,” Alex praises.

“Thank you! Please tell your sister that, she never bothers to look at the list.”

“I bet you she opens all the drawers hastily while looking for that one item,” Alex says smugly.

“You know your sister well,” Lena laughs.

“Sorry you’ve been picking up her slack,” Alex apologizes on Kara’s behalf but Lena waved it away.

”She does help with taking out the trash at least, although she hasn’t been home lately. Probably looking to unravel another financial scheme from another family.”

“She was just doing her job, you understand that, right?” Alex replies in a serious tone. She makes fun of Kara, but she’s quick to defend her as well.   
“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I joke about that. Sometimes, it’s just hard to separate this dumb useless Kara I’ve been roommates with the competent reporter Kara that unraveled the criminal activities of my family.”

“She does have that weird duality about her,” Alex smiles.

Alex looks around at the clean apartment, the day is far from over so she asks Lena, “What else do you do on a Sunday?” 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Lena grabs a post-it note and writes down something.

“A hundred?” Alex comments on the  _ $100 _ Lena writes down on the pad.

“It’s Sunday, I always make her pay on Sunday. But if she’s not around I’ll leave her a note to remind her,” Lena tears away the post-it note from the pad and paste it on the refrigerator.

“Take out trash. Don’t eat my ice cream. Sam was looking for you, call her back,” Alex reads all the post-it notes out loud.

“I don’t want to forget either, jotting it down is easier,” Lena shrugs.

Alex smiles as she looks at Lena, “You sure you don’t have feelings for my sister, Little Lee?”

“Alex, please. I’m more like her secretary,” Lena rolls her eyes.

\--

Kara opens the door to the sound of laughter, and assumes either Lucy or Eve is hanging out with Lena. She drops her bag and smiles wildly when she sees Alex.

“What are you doing here! Why are you in town?” Kara says cheerfully while she hugs Alex.

“I’m here to see you. Now that I have, I’ll be going back now,” Alex pats Kara’s shoulder and picks up her own bag by the door.

“What? I JUST got back,” Kara protests.

“I’ve been here for three days, Kara. Just my luck you went offline, huh? Come back home once in a while, mom misses you,” Alex gives Kara a hug and Kara grudgingly accepts.

“I was researching about an illegal slave trade. Sorry that other people’s freedom is more pivotal than spending time with you.”

“I know, you’re doing important work. I’m proud of you,” Alex smiles, “Next time, okay?”

Kara nods and Alex shouts to Lena who’s on the couch looking over them, “Thanks for spending time with me, Little Lee. Come back to Midvale sometime.”

“Sure, Alex. Thanks for the company,” Lena shouts back.

Kara has a confused look at the whole exchange and just asks Alex softly, “Since when are you two close? Little Lee?”

“We spent the last three days together, we’ve bonded,’ Alex replies with a side smile, “You found a good one this time, Kara.”

“I didn’t find her, she literally fell into my life. Also, we don’t have that kind of relationship,” Kara denies whatever assumption Alex is insinuating. 

“What kind of relationship? I didn’t say anything,” Alex grins when Kara catches her drift.

“You don’t have to say it, it’s all over your face. So do not say anything to mom. She’s only staying for 5 more months, I won’t see her after.”

“I don’t know about that,” Alex grins wider and makes her way out.

Right before Kara shuts the door, Alex manages to get a last shout, “Don’t forget to pay her your hundred for last week! And help her clean your own damn apartment once in a while!”

“Shut up! Go home already! Love you!” Kara shouts back and laughs while she closes the door.

Kara can hear the echo of Alex yelling  _ I love you too! _ from the hallway and it makes her smile.

“Sorry you missed spending time with your sister,” Lena says as Kara plops on the couch next to her.

“It’s fine, sorry I forgot to tell you about her. She drops by to surprise me once in a while,” Kara makes her own apology.

“She was fun to hang out with. Plus, she helped me clean,” Lena smiles.

“She’s just being polite, she’s just as messy as I am, don’t get too enamored,” Kara scrunches her nose as she replies to Lena.

“Don’t be jealous just because she’s my favorite Danvers,” Lena lets out a tiny laugh, reiterating what she said to Alex a few days ago.

“Well, you’re my favorite Luthor,” Kara replies so swiftly it took Lena by surprise. 

When Kara notices there’s no response from Lena, she doubles down, “I mean, between every single member of your family, it’s a no brainer. Can you imagine if I said Lex Luthor is my favorite Luthor?”

“No, I can’t,” Lena looks down and smiles without a thought. 

“Oh, by the way, Alex said if you fall for me, she’s willing to chip in your share of the repair, she’s really excited to have me be a part of the family,” Lena smirks and makes fun of Kara.

“Ha! Funny,” Kara replies in a deadpan voice with a similar deadpan expression as she picks up her bag and walks to her bed.

_ Yeah, funny indeed _ Lena thinks to herself.


	6. warm

Lena lies down on the couch (that is also her temporary bed) and tries to shut her eyes for a moment. She’s been reading for the past few hours and wants to rest her weary eyes, when suddenly she feels something hit her hair. She takes the crumpled up post-it and reads it,  _ take out the trash _ .

She gives an annoyed look to Kara and throws back the note at her, “That was meant for you.”

“I know, I was just trying to get your attention,” Kara smirks. Kara is sitting on the chair opposite Lena, barely concentrating on the TV, as she finds it more fun to distract Lena from her rest.

“Go bother your non-girlfriends, ask them out on a date or something,” Lena pouts, she knows Kara is bored but she is not in the mood to be the involuntary victim of Kara’s boredom today.

“I don’t do dates,” Kara laughs softly.

“Like, never ever?” Lena wonders.

“Dates are messy. The good thing about friends with benefits is that there are no feelings. Nothing romantic. Just good sex once in a while,” Kara smiles.

Lena just gives Kara an unamused look and turns her head around to close her eyes again.

“What? Why do you always shy away at that word? Sex. Just say it,” Kara laughs again.

“I’m not shying away! I don’t want to say it because you want me to,” Lena fights back.

“Just say it. Sex!” Kara shouts the word louder this time.

“Danvers! The neighbors can hear you!” Lena scolds.

“Say it! Sex! Sex! Sex!” Kara shouts louder and louder and grins widely to goad Lena on. 

“Sex!” Lena shouts back, “Are you happy?”

“Lena Luthor,” Kara gasp, “why are you shouting for sex so early in the morning?”

“I hate you so much,” Lena says in barely a whisper and Kara just laughs.

“Stop bothering me and go out or something, it’s a nice day out for warm weather activities,” Lena tries to change the subject as she rolls her eyes.

“What are warm weather activities?” Kara laughs a bit more this time, content with how amused she is with Lena’s annoyance.

“You know, like, ride a bike, or go for a walk, explore a park, hiking, a picnic, what?” Lena stops when she sees Kara grinning wildly.

“You don’t seem like the hiking or a picnic girl to me,” Kara says with a hint of a smile.

“Well, I’ve never done both, but you asked me to list down some activities—”

“You’ve never hiked or gone on a picnic before?” Kara interrupts and asks in a disbelief tone.

“I don’t have anyone to go with. Lex was always busy, and I never had any friends that wanted to do all that,” Lena replies shyly, embarrassed by the fact that she hasn’t done such simple activities before.

“Let’s go,” Kara stands up and offers her hand.

“What? Now?”

“Yeah, let’s go. Come on,” Kara gestures for Lena to get up and reaches out her hand once again.

“I thought you said you don’t do dates,” Lena repeats what Kara said earlier.

“This is not a date, this is just a warm weather activity. Come on, get up,” Kara says as she grabs Lena’s hands and forces her to get up. 

\--

Lena gives a long exhale through her nose as she looks over at Kara who is taking out 2 cans of beer and a cup of yogurt from a tote bag.

“This is your idea of a picnic?”

“We only had this in the fridge, you really need to restock your food,” Kara says as she opens a can of beer. 

"It's hard when the only thing in your grocery list you gave me are just beers," Lena replies and Kara just smiles.

Kara passes a can to Lena which she refuses. When Kara offers the yogurt, Lena begrudgingly accepts. They are sitting under a huge tree at the park opposite their apartment, providing the much needed shade for their impromptu picnic.

Lena snaps off the plastic spoon that comes with the yogurt cup and starts eating. Kara takes a sip of her cold beer and  _ ahh _ in delight, “Nothing like a cold drink on a warm weather activity day.”

“You can stop making fun of me,” Lena responds, her face looking down as she digs into her yogurt.

Kara gives a genuine smile, “I am not. Why do you think I am?”

“Because you always do. I know, I’m a Luthor. I don’t have “ _ normal people experience _ ” like you do. I don’t have friends. I don’t have family. Everyone in National City hates me. I’ve never been on a picnic. I know all that, so you can stop making fun of me.”

“Hey, that’s not true,” Kara reassures her, “you’re on a picnic now,” and she laughs.

Lena can’t help but laugh along. Even if Kara didn’t deny all the other stuff about Lena, somehow she does make Lena feel relaxed. Maybe this picnic isn’t such a bad idea after all.

“And you’re wrong about another thing, you do have a friend,” Kara lies down next to Lena and props herself on her elbow as she says this.

“Oh yeah? Who?” Lena asks even though she kinda knows the answer.

“Eve. You’ve been texting each other a lot, right?” Kara smiles, “Do you like her? I can set you two up.”

Lena’s expression changes when Kara didn’t give the answer Lena thought she would.

“Danvers, please. Must everything be about hooking up with you? Eve’s nice. She likes you.”

“I know, that's why I've stopped sleeping with her," Kara confesses as she fully lies down with her hands behind her head. 

"Why do feelings scare you so much? What's wrong with settling down with Eve?"

“Nothing wrong with Eve, I'm the one with commitment issues,” Kara confesses.

“You don't look like it,” Lena says.

“What?” Kara opens one eye and squints at Lena, the sun is getting in her eye.

“I mean, your image. You look like you'll be a devoted wife. Cleaning and cooking at home,” Lena says as she gestures a cooking movement with her spoon.

“Oh my god, I have the image of a devoted wife? What?” Kara laughs.

“Yeah, that’s not what I meant,” Lena laughs, “you look like a nice girl is all I'm saying."

"And to you a nice girl is someone who cooks and cleans and is a devoted wife?" Kara raises a hand to cover her eyes as she says this to Lena as the sun is blinding her.

"Forget I said it! I know, it's a forced stereotype. I didn't mean it like that at all. You look nice, like you have a kind heart, that's all. Meanwhile, other people would take one look at me and think I'm a bitch.”

Kara gives an immediate reply, “They don't know you.”

“Are you saying your opinion of me has changed because you know me now?” Lena scooches up a bit and looks directly at Kara, helping her block the sun.

“Ehhh…” Kara drags her reply as she puts back her hand behind her head.

“Screw you, Danvers.” Lena laughs again.

“Kidding. You’re a good egg, Lena Luthor,” Kara smiles as she gives an answer.

“A good egg? I’ll take it I guess.”

Kara pats down to the space next to her, gesturing for Lena to lie down as well.

“No, I’m not lying down on grass.”

“It’s just grass, Luthor,” Kara laughs a little and continues, “And I’m not that good of a person.” 

When Lena stays silent, Kara laughs and shoves Lena gently.

“ _ No, Danvers, I think you’re a good person. What are you saying _ ?” Kara mocks a reply.

Lena just gives a side smile as she replies, “You were fishing for compliments, I wasn’t gonna bite.”

“Screw you, Luthor.”

“You're a good egg too, Danvers. You're dedicated to your job, I respect that.”

Kara’s heart warms at Lena’s compliment and throws one at Lena as well, “And you're not as evil as the rest of your family.”

“Guess we're both more than what we look like, huh?” Lena ponders.

“Another thing we have in common.”

“Anyway, I just want to say, Eve really likes you. I think she'll be good for you,” Lena brings back the Eve subject again.

“I don't like being tied down. Plus, if I choose Eve all my other girls will get jealous,” Kara answers with a smile.

“You're making a joke to change the subject.”

“You've caught on fast at least.”

Lena lets out a sigh, “Clearly you don’t like to talk about this, I’ll drop it.”

“Thanks,” Kara says, glad that Lena catches her drift. A small ball hits Kara’s legs and a group of kids runs up to them. Kara picks up the ball and runs, making the kids chase her. Lena just laughs at the absurdity of a grown woman playing around with a group of kids, because Lena would never. Yet somehow Kara just fits right in. 

“Give them their ball back, idiot!” Lena shouts, then quickly covers her mouth, not sure if the word  _ idiot _ is suitable for the kids. But the kids all laughed so Lena finds comfort in that. 

“Help us, lady!” a girl shouts to Lena so she gets up, unsure of what to do. But none of the kids know who she really is, to them she is their savior. So she chases Kara, and tries to make her give the ball back.

“Unhand the ball, Danvers,” Lena exclaims proudly, as she steps in front of the group of kids, taking the lead.

“Make me,” Kara gives a wink.

“What?” Lena whispers softly so that only Kara could hear her.

“Just pretend to hit me or something,” Kara whispers back.

“Err… take this!” Lena shouts and taps Kara softly on her shoulders.

“Arghhhh, you got me,” Kara exaggerates her pain and lets go of the ball. The group of kids cheered around Lena as she gave them their ball back.

When the kids continue to play their own ball game, Lena offers a hand to help Kara with getting up.

“And the Academy Award goes to…” Lena laughs.

“I would like to thank my roommate, who has been an inspiration for my performance,” Kara fakes an acceptance speech that makes Lena laugh even louder. 

“I would like to thank the ball, who gives its own stellar performance. This one for you ball,” Kara raises an imaginary trophy as she continues.

“You’re ridiculous,” Lena laughs again as they walk back to their spot under the tree and sits back down.

Lena continues with her yogurt, which only has a few scoops left, “That was fun.”

“Kids are the best. They don’t have any worries. They just have fun everyday,” Kara says and takes a huge sip of her beer.

“Is that why you act like a child everyday?” Lena smiles at Kara.

“Maybe,” Kara smiles back.

As Lena finishes her yogurt, she says happily, “Thanks for the picnic.”

“Anytime. You finished your yogurt?” Kara asks as she glances at the empty cup.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let's go,” Kara gets up and brushes off the grass from her clothes.

Lena looks up at Kara in wonder and asks, “Go where?” 

Kara offers a hand to Lena, “Are you ready?

“Ready for what exactly?” Lena asks first before accepting Kara’s hand.

“We're going hiking now,” Kara reaches for Lena’s hands anyway and forces Lena to stand.

“Uh, uh. No. No,” Lena objects as they both struggle with each other. Kara getting Lena to stand up and Lena insisting on sitting down.

“Danvers!” Lena yells when Kara’s strong arms manage to pull Lena up and they end up in a half hug as Lena stumbles into Kara’s embrace.

Kara just laughs and runs ahead, waving for Lena to follow her as she yells back, “It's a nice day out for warm weather activities!”


	7. yellow

Kara stares at all the yellow post-its on the fridge and reads them one by one.

_ Take out trash. Stop drinking beers in the morning. I bought fruits, you can eat them. Don’t eat my ice cream. $100. Be back Saturday. _

Ignoring the drinking beer note, Kara opens the fridge and grabs a bottle of beer to start the day. She picks up the trash that’s already tied up and walks out of her apartment to throw it down the trash chute. When she comes back in again, the emptiness of her apartment is really apparent. There was no one to bicker with, no one to annoy. After a minute of being alone, Kara picks up the phone and starts calling.

“Hey, sweetie pie, what are you doing? Wanna come over? Lena is not around till Saturday,” Kara asks and gets straight to the point when she calls Lucy.

“She’s away for Lex Luthor’s appeal hearing. Yeah, no, it’s fine. No, no, it’s fine,” Kara tries to put Lucy at ease when Lucy says she already made other plans.

“Bye, sweetie,” Kara bids Lucy goodbye and dials another number, “Morning, Honey.”

\--

“Checking out the news again?” Sam asks when she notices Kara reaches out for her phone for the umpteenth time. She cuddles up to Kara and kisses her shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“It's an appeal, it won't make the main news.”

“It's the Luthor's appeal hearing, anything about them is main news. Anyway, my friend is covering it. I'm just waiting for his update.”

“Are you worried for Lena?”

“What? No. I just want an update,” Kara dismisses Sam and puts down her phone next to her nightstand.

“Okay,” Sam replies and turns around to lie on her side of the bed.

“What? What's with the tone?”

“Just seems like you're worried about Lena is all,” Sam says.

“She annoys me. Greatly,” Kara comes over to Sam’s side and hugs her, pulling Sam closer to her.

“And still you worry,” Sam turns over and looks Kara in the eyes as she says this.

“I just want to know if her trust fund can get unfrozen. If she has money, she won’t have to be around any longer than she has to. And you and I, can do more of this,” Kara climbs on top of Sam and starts kissing her neck gently.

Sam starts moaning but Kara’s eyes glances towards the nightstand when she hears a notification coming in.

“Don’t stop,” Sam whispers so Kara ignores her phone.

\--

“Why are you doing this again?” Eve asks as she looks over at Kara who is carefully pasting post-it notes all over the refrigerator. The whole front of the fridge is covered with post-its, each note is written with quips and jokes.

“She is always leaving me notes and telling me what to do, now it’s my turn,” Kara answers matter-of-factly, like it’s a normal thing to do to cover your own fridge with sticky notes as a prank.

“She has a point for the beer thing. Also, she’s been gone for two days, how is this place a mess already?” Eve looks around and points to the article of clothes strewn around the apartment, and the empty containers on the kitchen island.

“I’ll clean it up before she comes back,” Kara shrugs and Eve lets out a quick exhale through her nose, doubtful of Kara’s promise.

“What? I used to clean before she started crashing here!” Kara protests and crosses her arms, pausing her prank activity.

Eve just smiles and pats Kara lightly, “Yes, but she has set a new standard of cleanliness here.”

Eve saunters over to the kitchen island and helps Kara clean away the empty containers, or rather helps Lena, as she was sure Lena would clean all of this come Sunday. Kara is now kneeling down to paste more post-it notes on the bottom part of the refrigerator.

“So, how is the case?” Eve asks.

“Oh, the Luthors are definitely still in jail. I think they will be for a long time. It’ll take a few years for them to go through another appeal. Lena’s inheritance is still frozen, I’m not sure what’s up with that. I don’t know if she would ever get it. They should really unfreeze all their other assets if you ask me, and pay back the money to the people they scammed,” Kara goes on a rant as she makes sure all the post-it notes are aligned with no spaces in between.

“How do you think she feels?”

“Who?” Kara looks up to Eve at the sudden question.

“Lena. Who else?” Eve creases her eyebrows as she answers.

“Lena Luthor has feelings?” Kara laughs a little.

“Kara, babe, it’s me. You don’t have to joke to avoid talking about it,” Eve comes over to Kara and squats down beside her.

“Avoid talking about what?” Kara feigns innocence. 

“That you care about Lena,” Eve spells it out for her.

Kara didn’t answer Eve and continues with pasting her notes.

Eve lightly touches Kara’s arms and mutters, “It's okay if you do. You’re a caring person, that's what I love about you.”

At the mention of the L word, Kara perks up and looks at Eve, “Eve, we've talked about this.”

“I know. Just let me pine over you for a bit.”

“I’m sorry we can’t be anything more, it’s not what I want,” Kara apologizes in what seemed like a conversation they have had a hundred times before.

“You stopped calling me muffin, it kinda hurts a bit,” Eve confesses.

“You’ll always be my muffin,” Kara offers a kind smile and consoles Eve, “Go out there, find someone else. How about Lena?”

“Kara, please,” Eve rolls her eyes.

“Why? What's wrong with Lena?” Kara asks.

“You're even dumber than I thought,” Eve just smiles and nudges Kara softly but she loses her balance and stumbles a bit.

“Eve? What's wrong with Lena?”

\--

Lena opens the door and the first thing her eyes laid upon is the yellow fridge, the usual turquoise colored refrigerator has now fully turned yellow with all the post-it notes carefully pasted on it, leaving not even a slight space in between each note.

The second thing her eyes laid upon is Kara sitting by the kitchen island with a shit eating grin, looking over at Lena’s deadpan face.

Lena walks over to the fridge and reads some of the notes.

_ Beer is good, beer is life. No, I will not eat fruits. Healthy foods are propaganda. 17 more weeks of living with the devil, huzzah! Sorry your inheritance is still frozen guess the judge gave you a cold shoulder ayyy. _

Lena didn’t react, didn’t even give Kara her usual eye rolls and walks over to the couch and puts her bag to the side. She grabs her pajamas from her box of clothes she keeps by the couch and heads to the bathroom.

“Oh, come on! It was funny!” Kara shouts at her but Lena is still expressionless.

Kara sits quietly as she listens to the faint sounds of Lena getting herself ready for bed in the bathroom. She’s half disappointed her hours of work didn’t even garner the usual annoyed expression from Lena, and half worried about her roommate. The appeal must have affected her more than Kara initially thought. And now she feels bad for pulling a prank when Lena is feeling down like this. The longer Lena is in the bathroom, the more anxious Kara becomes so she grabs her car keys and walks out of the apartment.

\--

“What's this for?” Lena asks when Kara comes back with a sunflower for her. Lena was already getting ready to sleep but she sits herself up on the couch as she takes the flower from Kara.

“Sorry about the prank. And this flower reminds me of you,” Kara shrugs as she passes the one stalk of sunflower to Lena.

“Is it because the yellow reminds you of the post-it notes?” Lena takes the sunflower closer to her nose and smells it, and she finds that a sunflower doesn’t have any particular smell.

“Ha! Probably! And here,” Kara passes Lena two crisp hundred-dollar bills.

“$200? Another hundred is not due till tomorrow,” Lena informs her.

“Just take it,” Kara shoves the money into Lena’s hands.

“Are you trying to get rid of me faster?” Lena replies as she keeps the money aside in her purse.

“Yeah, I can't stand having you here any longer, telling me what to do through post-it notes,” Kara plops down on the couch next to Lena and Lena scooches over to give her more room.

“Don't worry. When I move back upstairs, I'll still leave notes on your door,” Lena gives a small smile and Kara smiles back because she finally gets a reaction from Lena.

“I'll move out,” Kara replies with a smug face, “you can’t bother me anymore then.”

“Finally! I found what it takes to get rid of you! Incessant notes!” Lena laughs a little and Kara looks down at her hands, fiddling with nothing, but smiling ever so slightly.

“No comeback?” Lena questions when Kara is still keeping quiet.

“Not today. Have a good rest,” Kara pats Lena’s legs as she gets up from the couch.

“Don't go soft on me, Danvers.”

“Just take the win, Luthor.”

“Doesn't feel like winning when you're not fighting back,” Lena looks up to Kara wistfully.

Kara gives a soft smile and says in a low voice, “Good night, Luthor.”

“Good night, Danvers. Thank you for this,” Lena wishes Kara and raises the sunflower.

Lena lies back down on the couch and smells the flower again. She already knows the flower doesn’t have a scent but she wants to remember the feeling. Lena places the sunflower on the small table next to her and just stares at the yellow petals as she slowly lulls herself to sleep.


	8. beach

“Join us, Eve is there. Sam is coming. And Lucy is coming with James,” Kara begs.

“So you want me to go to the beach with your ex non-girlfriend, your current non-girlfriend and your other non-girlfriend with her boyfriend. Is Lucy still your non-girlfriend? Christ, your relationships are confusing. Yeah, no thanks,” Lena refuses, the whole trip sounds daunting, not to mention awkward.

“Please? Lucy and I are over but things are still weird with me and Eve, and you’ve been such a good friend to her,” Kara pleads again. Kara is hoping Lena would come along and acts as the buffer between her and Eve.

“Fine. But I’m not going into the waters,” Lena tells Kara.

“Yes! Thank you! You’re the best!” Kara gives Lena a quick hug that takes Lena by surprise. They’ve never hugged before and Kara must have done it instinctively and without a thought as she looks happy and continues packing for her beach trip. 

\--

Lena sits at the back with Eve while Kara is in the driver’s seat waiting for Sam to get in.

“This is not awkward at all,” Lena comments to break the silence.

“It’s not! We’re all still friends. Right, Eve?” Kara looks at Eve through the rearview mirror.

Eve gives a small smile as a reply. Kara perks up when she sees Sam coming out of her house and she gets out of the car to greet her.

Lena looks over at Eve, “You’re okay with all this? We can hang out somewhere else if you want.”

“No, I want to go to the beach. Kara’s right, we’re all still friends. I just have to get over my feelings for her,” Eve replies.

“She can be so oblivious sometimes,” Lena shakes her head.

“Did you know she wants to set me up with you?” Eve lets out a tiny laugh.

“She did that to you? She wanted to set me up with you!” Lena cries out as she questions Kara’s actions.

“She feels guilty for rejecting me and wants me to find someone else. In her own weird way, she cares,” Eve says. She wants to say something else to Lena but gets interrupted by Sam who opens the door.

“Hey there, party people! Are we ready for the beach?” Sam greets.

"Beach! Beach! Beach!" Kara chants but no one is joining her.

"You guys suck," Kara pouts and everyone else laughs at Kara's failed attempt to get everyone chanting. 

\--

“Damn, Luthor. Your umbrella is huge, how did you fit that in my car?” Kara teases Lena when she sees the huge orange umbrella Lena carries.

"And why are you wearing this huge scarf out of all things? It's the beach! Where's your swimsuit?"

“I’m only here because you ask me to. Just let me read my book in peace under the shade,” Lena grumbles.

“Kara!” Lucy waves everyone over, she’s already lounging by the beach in a polka dot bikini with James by her side. They have reserved an area for the group and laid out two huge blankets over the sand. Sam drops the sandwiches she made in the middle of the blanket and Kara places the cooler down to hug Lucy and James.

They all greet each other while Lena awkwardly settles down at the corner of the blanket, planting her umbrella into the sand. She could see other beachgoers whispering among themselves so she reached out for her sunglasses in her bag to shield her eyes from the glaring looks. The Luthors appeal hearing is making her the front news yet again, and she regrets coming out into the public eye this soon. Lena Luthor having fun by the beach is not a headline she wants to see in the papers the next morning.

She hides under her umbrella and takes a peek at the group. Everyone has taken off their t-shirts and dresses and are all clad in swimsuits and bikinis. Kara is wearing a high waisted floral bikini which Lena already saw earlier at the apartment. Although, Kara looks different wearing it here at the beach compared to when she was parading it in front of Lena asking for her opinion. Lena just keeps staring at Kara as she ties up her hair in a ponytail.

“She really grabs your attention, right?” Eve sits down next to Lena and interrupts Lena's thoughts when she notices Lena is looking at Kara.

“Hard not to notice the loud and annoying presence in your life,” Lena looks away and opens her book.

“Are you two always like this? Reverting to insults every time someone points out something that is going on?” Eve raises her eyebrow as she prods Lena on.

“Nothing is going on between me and her. You don’t have to worry,” Lena says.

“That makes two of us. Nothing is going to happen between me and her too,” Eve shrugs.

“Sorry,” Lena consoles Eve, “she doesn’t deserve you anyway. You should get over her.”

“I know….” Eve drags her answer and looks at Lena, “it’s so hard. Why is it so hard?”

“Because love is dumb,” Lena smiles, “and that one over there is the dumbest,” Lena points to Kara with her mouth.

"Well," Eve nudges Lena with her shoulder, "she's not the only dumb one."

Lena gives her a confused look and Eve just laughs at her reaction.

"Oh, come on. Do you expect me to believe you've lived with her for 2 months now and there's no feelings whatsoever?"

"Ugh. If anything, living with her in close quarters has deterred me even further. I'm not looking for someone who has poor eating habits, is messy as hell and has an unexplainable fear of commitment."

"Okay, if you say so," Eve gives a teasing smile.

"Stop! I swear there's nothing. She ruined my life, she's the last person on this earth I would go for," Lena explains herself further.

Eve just gives a small smile and gets up, “Not going for a swim?” 

“No, I’ll take care of all your stuff and read my book, go have fun,” Lena informs and Eve runs down the beach to join the rest.

\--

"You sure you don't want to go for a swim?"

Lena looks up to answer Kara but her jaw drops when she sees the human lobster in front of her.

"You are so red! Did you not wear sunscreen??"

"I did. Am I red?" Kara asks as she looks at her arms.

"You're getting burnt! Sit down!"

Lena reaches for her sunscreen in her bag and squirts a huge amount on Kara's arms.

"Rub some more, your sunscreen must not be strong enough," Lena instructs and Kara did as she was told. 

"You're exaggerating, I'm just getting tanned. You should get some sun too," Kara pokes at Lena's pale arms.

"I don't tan," Lena pouts, and offers more sunscreen so Kara extends her palm to accept it.

"Rub on your neck and your back."

"A little help?" Kara points to her back as she rubs some on her neck with the other hand.

"Turn around," Lena sighs and relent. She squirts a sizable amount on her hands and rubs on Kara's back. Kara's body twitched at the initial touch but settles down as Lena rubs more sunscreen down her back. As Lena's hands go further down to Kara's waist, Kara jerks away and Lena quickly apologizes.

"No, I'm just ticklish," Kara says.

"I'm going to rub some more down your back," Lena tells Kara.

"Okay."

As Lena rubs in a circular motion down Kara's back, they don't say anything to each other. The only thing accompanying the smell of sunscreen and salt, is the deep silent breathing between the both of them. As Lena's hand goes up again, she feels like she's imagining it but she swears she could feel Kara's heartbeat getting faster. Or maybe it was hers, because she can't tell the difference as the pulses beat against her own chest. 

"You're… you're good," Lena gives a last pat on Kara's back and keeps her sunscreen away.

"Th-thanks," Kara gets up without looking at Lena and runs down the beach to jump into the ocean.

\--

"Sam, this is so good!" Lucy exclaims as she takes another bite of Sam's sandwich. 

"Thanks, I found the recipe online. It's  _ wanpaku _ sandwich, they pack all the goodness in one sandwich, it's great, right?" Sam tells Lucy.

" _ Wanpaku _ . That's Japanese, right?" James asks.

Sam nods and Eve asks a question of her own, "What does  _ wanpaku _ mean?"

"I'm not sure if it's true but the recipe site says it means an energetic, mischievous or a cheeky person. It reminds me of someone so I made it," Sam laughs as she eyes Kara. Everyone else turns around to look at Kara.

"What?" she asks when she realized everyone was staring at her. Kara is busy munching and wasn't even participating in the conversation.

"Well, I agree on the apt description," Lena says as she takes a bite of the sandwich. Everyone else just snickers as Kara pesters Sam to tell her what they were talking about.

As they get ready to head to the ocean for another round of swimming, Eve invites Lena for the countless times that day.

"Sure you don't want to join us? We can just leave our stuff here and keep an eye on it from the ocean," Eve says.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," Lena lifts up her book and shows the last few chapters she needs to read.

"Come on, Lena, join us. This is our last round," James grabs Lena's hand in an attempt to pull her up.

"No!" Lena shouts suddenly and takes everyone else by surprise. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No, James. I didn't mean to raise my voice, I just don't want to go near the waters," Lena informs him.

The situation got a bit tense so Kara gestures for everyone to go to the ocean as she stays back and sits next to Lena.

"Hey, James didn't mean that. He just wants you to join in the fun," Kara defends James to Lena.

"I know. I just… I don't want to swim that's all," Lena says as she brings her knees closer to her face, keeping her face down.

"Why?" Kara laughs a little to release the tension, "Did you drown as a kid or something?"

Everything stays silent for a while, the only noise around them is the surrounding sound of other beachgoers laughing and playing in the sand. Kara inches closer to Lena. Their legs touching together as Kara mimics how Lena sits, bringing her own knees to her face.

"Are you okay?"

"My mom," Lena breaks the silence, "she drowned. That's how she died. I just… I've been scared of open waters since that day."

"Oh, shit. I'm so sorry. I feel like such an idiot now," Kara apologizes.

"You didn't know. Not a lot of people do, no matter how good of a reporter they are."

"And yet you came to the beach? You should have told me, I wouldn't have forced you to come."

Lena looks at Kara for the first time since their conversation and just raises her left eyebrow as she gives a skeptical look at Kara.

"I won't! I know I act mean with you but I'm not that malicious," Kara says, "you know that, right? Our banters are just fun back and forths, I would never hurt you on purpose."

Lena doesn’t say anything back and just replies with a sad smile. She knows this, of course. Kara can be petulant and difficult, but there was never any animosity. Kara is different from other people in National City that hates her family.

"Do you want to go back to the apartment?" Kara asks and the concern in her voice warms Lena’s heart.

"Eve and Sam came with us, how are they gonna get back?"

"I'll ask James to send them."

"No, it's fine. I can stay here. I just don't want to go near the waters."

"Okay,” Kara replies and looks ahead at their friends playing in the ocean. James is carrying Lucy on her shoulders and Eve and Sam are having fun tossing a beach ball at each other. When the ball hits Lucy on her head, Kara gives a light chuckle.

"You can join them, I'm fine," Lena says when she notices Kara is not joining them.

"No, I want to stay here," Kara looks at Lena and smiles. The kind of smile so infectious, it made Lena smile herself. They continue to sit in silence next to each other as they watch their friends. 

Kara reaches for her phone to show Lena a video, "I forgot to show you this one, look at Comet."

Lena takes Kara's phone and smiles softly as she watches Comet playing catch with his new owners. Kara shifts uncomfortably in the sand, and looks straight ahead to the sea. She picks up her courage as she says the next few words.

"Mine died in a fire."

Lena turns her head and looks at Kara. Kara is still looking ahead at the beach.

"My house burnt down, and my dad threw me out the window. They didn't manage to get out. Lost my parents and got a broken arm in the same night."

"Sorry," was all the reply Lena could muster.

"Yeah. Another thing we have in common."

"Dead parents?"

Kara looks at her and just laughs lightly and the dark comparison Lena just pointed out. Lena laughs a bit too, but there’s a certain sadness that still engulfs her.

"At least you didn't get adopted by the Luthors."

"It's not all bad."

"Kara Danvers saying the Luthors are not all bad? Call the press."

"First of all,  _ I'm _ the press," Kara smiles when her little comeback garnered a light chuckle from Lena, "second of all, you were privileged and gained a lot more opportunities because of it, didn't you? It's not all bad if being a Luthor means you get the chance to go to a good school. Plus, you're an accomplished engineer by your own merit. You're your own person now. It's true that your family screwed everyone else in the process, but their actions don't define you."

Of course, Lena knows this but hearing it from Kara gives her the affirmation she didn’t know she needed.

"It doesn't feel good knowing all the things I got from growing up are from my family stealing from other people," Lena says.

"You didn't know."

Lena shifts her gaze from Kara and turns her head to face the ocean again, "Do you miss your parents?" 

"Sometimes. I don't think about them as much nowadays. Maybe during anniversaries or birthdays," Kara ponders, it does feel easy talking to Lena about this, knowing that Lena has the same experience as her. She never really had anyone else to talk about this before.

"I miss my mom. Recently, more than usual," Lena confesses.

"What was she like?"

"I don't remember. I don't even have a photo of her, she doesn't like taking pictures. Maybe she didn't want people to find out she's Lionel Luthor's mistress. I only have this ring to remind her," Lena says as she fiddles with the diamond ring on her index finger, "Is it bad that I don't remember her face anymore?"

"You were young."

"I just remember how she would tell me stories before bed. How she would make cookies every weekend at home. How she cooked me porridge whenever I'm sick. The porridge always had bits of salmon in it. Her specialty. I remember her smell. She would always smell like fresh bread. Is that weird? That I don't remember her face but everything else about her?"

"No, not weird at all. I think it's lovely," Kara gives a soft smile and nudges Lena with her shoulder.

"Stop," Lena says as she shakes her head.

"Stop what?"

"You being nice to me feels so unnatural."

"If you tell anyone about this, I will deny everything and taunt you for life," Kara threatens Lena jokingly with a cute menacing face.

"I can't stand you," Lena replies with a laugh.

"We can go back to hating each other if it makes it easier."

"You're the worst person I know aside from my family. You literally ruined my life with your words and I can't believe I fell into your apartment."

"You are a stubborn neat freak who wants to force their healthy eating lifestyle on others, and I'm pretty sure you're the devil reincarnate."

"I hate you," Lena says with a smile.

"I hate you too," Kara replies.

They both share a laugh as they bond with their dislike for each other.


	9. Luthor

Beach day comes and goes, and Kara has been sticking by Lena ever since. She goes out for work at the same time as her, and comes back around the same time. Come Sunday, she even helped Lena to clean up the house, and rejected Sam's invite to come over. She doesn't know why, but Kara feels a fervent need to stay by Lena's side, and she feels happy doing so.

"You don't have to keep babying me, I'm fine," Lena says as she gets ready for work Monday morning. She could see Kara rushing to get ready for work herself.

"I'm not babying you, I'm going to work," Kara looks at Lena curiously.

"You usually go out later, you're just hurrying so we can go out together," Lena points out.

"Luthor, please. Why would I want to spend more time with you? We're already together most days," Kara defends herself.

"Okay, if you say so, I'm going off now," Lena grabs her purse and heads out the door.

"Wait for me!" Kara yells out and Lena just gives her a look, "I’m not doing this for you. It just so happened I was also ready for work."

"Whatever, Danvers."

They take the elevator ride down in silence and bid each other goodbye in front of the apartment building. Lena heads down the walkway to the right while Kara walks in the direction to the left. It was less than a minute after they separated when Kara heard a commotion behind her. She looks back and there's an angry middle aged lady yelling at Lena. Kara runs over to them to only catch the end of the one-sided argument.

"You and your family killed my husband!!" the lady yells out and spits on Lena's face.

"Hey hey, okay, ma'am. Please. This is a private property. Let's not do this here," Kara tries to calm the lady down and looks back at Lena who is not reacting at all.

"I hope all you Luthors go to hell!!" she yells again and is about to jump on Lena when Kara holds her back and stops her.

"Ma'am, please. Let's not resort to violence," Kara pleads with her again.

"Let go of me!" she shouts and Kara did, making sure she's in between the lady and Lena.

"Go to hell, Luthor!" the lady shouts her final grievance as she walks away from them.

Lena stands motionless on the sidewalk when Kara comes over. The lady's spit is still on Lena's face so Kara quickly opens her bag looking for something. She curses internally when her bag is only filled with empty mineral bottles, notebooks and receipts. Where is the tissue when you need one?

Lena grabs a tissue from her own purse and wipes it away, her face stays with a blank expression the whole time.

"Luthor, you want to—"

"I'm fine. I have to get to work. I'm late," Lena cuts Kara off and starts walking.

"Luthor!" Kara calls out but Lena keeps walking.

"Lena!" 

At the mention of her name, Lena stops for a second but continues walking. Kara lets out an exasperated sigh as she herself walks in the opposite direction.

\--

Kara came home late that day, as she had to finish up a report her boss handed her at the very last minute. She could have finished it earlier but her mind kept thinking of Lena and the lady from this morning. She opens the door to Lena drinking on her couch/bed with the same empty expression she always has.

Kara looks down on the floor and the small table, where empty bottles of beer and a half empty bottle of whiskey are scattered. She picks one empty beer bottle that was on the floor and places it on the table.

"Your beer sucks. Good thing I have my scotch," Lena drunkenly whispers with a glass in her hand.

“Don't you have work tomorrow?” Kara asks as she picks up another stray empty bottle.

“That's tomorrow. Tonight, I'm drinking.”

“Did you finish all my beers?” Kara looks over at the beers, it’s too much for one person to drink.

“No, I pour it down the sink because they suck,” Lena mimics a pouring down motion as she gives a thumbs down to Kara.

“Luthor!”

“That's right, I'm a Luthor. We're the worst,” Lena replies as she finishes the scotch in her glass. She reaches for more alcohol but when her hand can’t reach the table without getting up, she gives up and sighs.

Kara sits down next to Lena and grabs the empty glass from her hand, “Not Lena Luthor.”

“I've researched the Luthors for years, but living with you for a few weeks made me realize you're the best Luthor I know,” Kara puts her hands on Lena’s leg lightly, reassuring her.

“Stop!” Lena shouts and shoves Kara’s hand away.

“Stop being kind to me, I don't deserve it,” Lena starts tearing up as she says this. 

“Everyone deserves an act of kindness,” Kara replies and puts her hand on Lena again, this time Lena doesn’t push her away.

“Not me.”

“The lady this morning didn’t know you. She just thinks you’re just like Lex and Lillian.”

"That lady wasn't the first, and definitely not going to be the last. Do you know how it feels to have a whole city hate your existence?"

Of course Kara doesn't know that. In fact, living together made Kara forget about that very fact. Seeing Lena everyday, laughing and smiling, Kara didn't think of what Lena is facing when she steps outside their apartment.

"Everyday in the streets I get yelled at. I go to a new place and my service will get refused. When I walk around, people give me hostile looks. And I accept it. I know my family has done some unforgivable things so I accept it."

Lena is going into a full rant and Kara just listens silently.

"Maybe it's karma. The way all the bad things are happening to me. When people yell verbal abuse at me. I accepted it. When they didn't want to serve me, I accepted it. When I drop through a floor and have to spend months sleeping on a couch of the person who ruined my life?" Lena looks at Kara with tears in her eyes, "I accepted it."

Kara didn't know what to reply. She wonders if there's anything she could say now that would even help.

“You want to know what happened this morning? What made her so angry? That lady's husband killed himself. My family robbed all of his savings.”

Lena has her face in her hands as she is fully sobbing, “I killed someone, Kara.”

“Hey, that's not on you! You didn't even take part in your family’s scheme.”

“But I know! I knew about it!”

Kara freezes. It was something she suspected about Lena Luthor when she first met her, and now Lena has just confirmed it. Kara has trouble processing this new information. Is Lena not as innocent as Kara thought?

“I knew about it and I didn't do anything.”

Lena looks back nervously at Kara, wondering if Kara is betrayed by her admission. She regrets confessing when she sees the anger on Kara’s face.

“When did you know?” 

“When you started poking around a few years back. You called my office asking for an interview,” Lena starts her story.

“I remember. You refused,” Kara thinks back to that day. Lena Luthor was always an elusive enigma of the Luthor family. Kara thought getting an interview with her might give her an noteworthy insight into the Luthors, and when Lena declined her interview was when Kara spiraled into a deep-seated research about Lena. She remembers the day well. 

“I started asking around. I found out you were doing an investigation on my family. So I confronted Lex and he told me everything. And I… I didn't do anything about it. I didn't have the courage to stop it, not like you did,” Lena pause, “I know, and I didn't do anything. And now that lady's husband is dead because I was too much of a coward.”

“Look,” Kara takes Lena’s hands in hers, “sometimes it's hard to oppose someone, especially if it's family. Lex and Lillian Luthor were no one to me, that’s why it was easy. I wasn't brave, I was just doing my job, telling the truth.”

Lena looks down at Kara’s hands, holding her hand so tenderly she feels like she could break apart if Kara lets go. She looks up at Kara’s face and Kara is giving her a look so warm that she feels like crying again.

“Plus, if I didn’t poke around, you would still be left in the dark. You’re not the mastermind here. You didn’t kill that lady’s husband.”

"I'm just… so tired of it," Lena's voice starts breaking and she inhales sharply before she continues, "I'm tired of being the bad guy. I'm tired of accepting this life I live now."

"People are hating on me because I'm free. People hate on me just because I’m a Luthor. I _hate_ that I’m a Luthor. I just feel like... wanting to go join Lex and be in jail if that's what people think I deserve," Lena rants in between sniffles and full on crying. Kara comes closer to Lena and holds Lena's shoulders gently to comfort her.

"Most days I'm okay, but then sometimes it's like," Lena whimpers and breathes heavily, "I feel like drowning."

"Don't think like that. You're good," Kara tries to calm Lena while rubbing her shoulders, "You're a good person."

“Stop defending me. You can hate on me like the rest of National City.”

“I'm not defending you, I'm telling the truth. Like what I did back then.” Kara smiles as she sets Lena’s mind at ease, “You're not your family.”

Lena hugs Kara unexpectedly but Kara hugs her back. She could feel Lena needed this as they embraced each other on that lonely night.

“And I don't hate you, not really,” Kara whispers to Lena’s shoulder.

“You don’t like me,” Lena whispers back.

“You're a very unlikeable person, you poured all my beers down the drain,” Kara chuckles, still in a hug with Lena. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Come, sleep in my bed tonight, I'll take the couch,” Kara says as she lets go of Lena. But Lena hugs Kara tighter as she says, “No, just a few more minutes.”

"You are so drunk," Kara laughs as she lets Lena hug her, "you are going to regret this in the morning when I tell you about it."

“Please, just a few more minutes,” Lena pleads and Kara could feel Lena’s embrace getting tighter around her.

“Okay,” Kara replies as she hugs Lena back. 

After a few minutes, Kara leads Lena to her bed and tucks her in. 

The next morning, Lena looks around the clean apartment, all the remains and evidence of her drinking are gone. Lena wasn’t sure that she was actually drinking the night before but the splitting headache she’s nursing is telling her otherwise. Lena doesn’t remember half her conversation she had with Kara, and Kara didn’t remind her of the long hug they had. Even though Kara thinks it was best they forget about it, it was all she could think about all day at work. 

\--

Kara came home one day with Lena holding the newspaper, and she smiles the moment Kara enters the apartment, misty eyes and all.

“I take it you read my article?” Kara smiles back, heading straight to the kitchen.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Lena joins Kara in the kitchen and puts the newspaper on the kitchen island.

Kara reads back the headline to her own article, _The rise and fall of Lena Luthor (and why she deserves a second chance)_. It was a hard pitch to make to her editor to publish it but Kara is glad she wrote it. The grateful look on Lena’s face right now is worth all the hard work. She could tell Lena has read this over and over again, maybe even crying as she did, as Kara could detect a few droplets of tears on the paper.

“It was nothing, my editor wanted a quick article from me, and this was what I could whip out,” Kara says with an affectionate smile, brushing it off like it was nothing, like she didn't just work overtime for the past few days to get this article done.

"I walked outside this morning and someone said hi to me. To me! Like specifically _good morning, Miss Luthor_ so I know it was for me. And coffee! Someone bought me coffee today! And I was wondering what happened. Until a colleague showed me this article. Why didn't you tell me?" Lena starts to ramble excitedly, and so happily, it makes Kara smile even wider.

"I wanted to surprise you. Surprise," Kara grins with the same grin she has every time she pulls a prank on Lena. Except this time, Lena wasn't annoyed.

Lena picks up the newspaper and starts to read, “ _True, there are no do-overs with what the Luthors did to the city, but there are second chances that we could spare. Especially for someone like Lena Luthor, who is working hard trying to build herself up despite her family’s name. At the end of the day, don’t we as a city stand for ‘Hope, help and compassion for all’?_ ”

“It’s well-written,” Lena pauses before she continues, ”Thank you, Kara.”

At the mention of her name, Kara looks at Lena, “I only wrote the truth,” Kara replies brightly, ”and you owe me beers.”

“Already restocked,” Lena says with a smug face.

Kara opens the fridge excitedly and beams when she sees the fridge full of her favorite beer.

“See? This is why you deserve a second chance. Have I ever been wrong?” Kara laughs as she takes out a bottle.

Lena smiles as she looks over at Kara who is happily drinking her beer. How could a person who ruined her life, can also be the one to save it? Lena feels thankful that out of all the apartments she can fall into, she fell into Kara’s. Life can punish her with all the karmas in the world, but falling into Kara's apartment? This one she doesn't mind.

This one she accepts wholeheartedly.


	10. ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why are my chapters getting so heavy lol here’s some fluff

“Luthor, can I skip on my hundred this week? Please? I need the money for something else,” Kara begs with Lena on that fine Sunday morning.

“Yeah, sure. Everything okay?” Lena asks.

“Thanks, you’re the best, feel free to stay here an extra week!” Kara avoids the question and leaves the apartment.

Lena wanted to inquire more but Kara looks extraordinarily happy so she was sure nothing bad is happening. She brushes it off and continues to do her work on her laptop.

\--

Kara comes back with a huge box and a cooler. She places all the items on the kitchen counter with a heavy grunt.

“Kara Danvers, did you spend $100 on a…” Lena reads the english words under the foreign letters on the box, “authentic fluffy ice happy shave machine? What does that even mean?”

“It’s an electric ice shaver machine! Let’s make  _ bingsu _ today!”

“Bing what?”

“ _ Bingsu _ ! It’s Korean shaved ice. It’s a hot day, perfect for some shaved ice,” Kara replies eagerly as she takes out the machine from the box.

“So you spent $100 on a machine… that shaves ice?”

“It’s only $70, the rest I spent on ingredients. Are the ice I put in this morning ready yet?” Kara asks as she opens the freezer to check on her ice.

Lena just groans and rubs her temple, “If I knew you would spend your money on this, I would never have agreed for you to skip payment this week.”

“I’ll make you some! Come on. This is a great investment,” Kara says with her usual grin that makes Lena roll her eyes.

“I can already tell you’re gonna make a mess in the kitchen. I’m not cleaning it up.”

“I’ll clean after.”

Lena shoots Kara a scolding look and Kara promptly cries, “I swear!”

As Kara fiddles with the machine and tries to figure it out, Lena continues with her work on the kitchen island. Once in a while, Lena will glance at Kara to see her struggle with the machine. The wire can’t reach the plug point from Kara’s area, so Lena is just waiting for the inevitable question.

“The wire is a bit short, permission to do it in your area?”

“Fine, permission granted.”

Lena is no longer glancing as she is fully staring at Kara and avoiding her work. It’s so fascinating for Lena to see Kara so concentrated on something besides her job. Lena has learned to differentiate the Kara who is serious about her work and the Kara at home, who is goofy and careless and crass. Although Kara rarely brings her non-girlfriends home anymore, Lena suspects it’s because she’s around so often, Kara does stay over at their houses sometimes. But lately she’s been staying at home more often and Lena doesn’t mind the company.

Kara doesn’t even notice Lena’s stare and shows Lena the instructions pamphlet she’s been browsing, “All the instructions are in broken english, look.”

“Where did you even buy this?” Lena asks as she looks over the pamphlet.

“From Koreatown.”

Lena starts to read the instructions out loud, “ _ In order to safe, please no water near electricity. Machine make fluffy ice. _ What is fluffy ice? How do you describe ice as fluffy?”

“ _ Ice to be put on sharp. Careful no fingers near sharp. _ The sharp is the blade I suppose,” Lena continues reading, “ _ Shave ice careful, not hurt of fingers. _ ”

“Woah, oh, oh,” Kara pretends to put her fingers near the blades of the shaver.

“If you really get hurt, I’m going to laugh.”

“You’re not gonna help me fix my boo boo?” Kara pouts as she puts her finger near her lips.

Lena has a disgusted face when she hears Kara’s cutesy tone, “Ew stop, baby talk doesn’t suit you. Maybe it worked with your sweetie pie, or honey bun, or whatever stupid nicknames you have with your non-girlfriends. Not with me.”

Kara just laughs it off and asks Lena a question, “What would work with you?”

“What?”

“Humor me, what gets you off?”

“I am NOT talking about this with you,” Lena raises her voice and continues to do her work that she avoided earlier. She quickly covers her ears with her hair because she is sure it has turned red at this point.

“Your cheeks are getting red. Are you flustered??” Kara smirks when she notices Lena’s blush.

“Must everything be sexual with you?”

“I don’t mean what gets you off sexually, get your mind out the gutter.”

“Then rephrase your question.”

“Jeez, fine. Like, what do you like? I’ve never seen you with anyone.”

“Well, I don’t do friends with benefits, or whatever you call your non-girlfriends,” Lena replies as she pretends to type something.

“Come on, you don’t have to be a sexual maverick to know what you like. Prudes are people too. How about your ex, that… er, Jack Spheer, right? Is that your type?”

At the mention of her ex, Lena paused. “I hate that you know everything about me.”

“Okay, ask me anything.”

“What?”

“You’re right, it’s not fair I know a lot about you. So ask me anything.”

Kara finishes setting up the machine and walks to the fridge to take out a block of ice from the freezer as she waits for a question from Lena. 

"Okay. Urm…” Lena trails as she thinks of a question, “when is your birthday?"

"September 22nd. Yours is on Halloween's."

"Of course you'd know that."

"A Luthor that is born on All Hallow's Eve? It's a hard fact to forget."

Lena continues with her work again. It’s one thing that Kara knows all the facts about her, it’s another that Kara actually remembers. 

“No more questions?” Kara sits in her area on the kitchen island, giving her full concentration to Lena.

“I don’t know what to ask. What else do you know about me?”

“I know where you went to school. I know you have a double degree in Engineering and Business. I know about your family. I know about your ex. All your hobbies and talents. Basically everything about you after you turned 6, after the Luthors adopted you,” Kara reveals.

“And yet you don’t know what I like in a person?” Lena raises an eyebrow.

Kara laughs lightly and walks over to Lena, stepping into her area without asking for permission, “No amount of journalism can unearth that. That’s something that’s… in there,” she says as she pokes Lena’s upper chest lightly.

“Go away,” Lena brushes off Kara’s fingers and warns her, “don’t touch me.”

“Can't be mad, not touching. Not touching,” Kara mocks Lena while keeping her hands close to Lena’s face without touching her.

“You’re in my area, and your ice is melting,” Lena points to the block of ice that Kara set aside earlier.

“I just finished setting this up, let me get the...” Kara says as she opens the cabinets one by one, “Luthor, where are the bowls?”

“C3,” Lena answers exasperatedly, “the inventory list is right there!” she points at the laminated list next to the fridge.

“Why do I need a list when you’re here to tell me where my stuff is?” Kara smiles smugly. 

"Watch this magic,” Kara goes back to the machine, places the ice in the compartment and presses a button. In an instant, shaved ice appears underneath the machine and Kara catches it all with a bowl.

“Oooooh, shaved ice in under 2 seconds. That’s amazing. Look, look, machine make fluffy ice,” Kara repeats the broken English instructions in the pamphlet and shows Lena the bowl of shaved ice.

“You’re the only one impressed by all this.”

“I’ll make you a bowl of  _ bingsu _ and you will change your mind, just watch.”

Kara takes more ice from the freezer and shaves it. She pours some condensed milk and tops it with a red bean paste she bought from Koreatown. Then she takes out some fruits she bought and chops it up. Kara has that certain concentrated look on her, the same look when she was fiddling with the machine earlier that Lena can’t help but to laugh softly when she sees it. 

“What’s so funny?”

“I’ve never seen you this serious in the kitchen.”

“That’s one new thing you know about me now, I can be serious if I want to.”

She carefully places the strawberries, kiwis and oranges around the bowl and perfects her food presentation as if Lena is a judge in a food competition. 

“You’re even putting in fruits,” Lena points out as Kara usually avoids it even if Lena stocks it up in the house.

“I eat fruits,” Kara protests.

“Skittles are not fruits.”

“Then why do they call it FRUITS Skittles??”

It’s fruit flavored… you know what, we are not having this argument again.”

She knows Lena gets riled up when she brings it up but Kara secretly enjoys their bickering. Kara smiles as she takes out a pint of ice cream and scoops it out to finish her  _ bingsu _ . 

“This is real ice cream, not the low calorie bullshit you always eat,” Kara says as she brings the bowl to Lena. 

“Permission to enter?” Kara asks as she’s about to step inside Lena’s area and Lena nods. Kara places the bowl between them. Lena pushes her laptop aside and takes a picture of the bowl, it really did look colorful and pretty. So pretty that she doesn’t dare to eat it. Kara takes a spoon and gets a bit of everything. When she holds out the spoon in front of Lena to feed her, Lena pulls away a little.

“I can feed myself,” Lena says in a wary tone.

“I scooped all the good parts for you, just eat it.”

Lena opens her mouth and Kara carefully places the spoon inside, and Lena is thankful she could eat it in one bite. She brings her palm in front of her mouth as she chews the sweet dessert. 

“So?”

“Okay, this is really good. I didn’t know what fluffy ice was but this is really fluffy,” Lena says in a surprised tone.

“Yes! I’m gonna make another bowl for me,” Kara says happily as she prepares herself to make another bowl.

“We can share this one, I’m not going to finish it.”

“Okay,” Kara replies as she gives the spoon to Lena and grabs a new spoon for herself.

"And Luthor?"

"Yeah?"

"If you want to know anything else about me just ask."

"When I think of some questions, I'll let you know."

They continue to enjoy the bowl in silence, with an occasional glance to each other.

“Why is the ice so sweet? What did you put in it?” Lena asks halfway through the bowl, the silence is making it too awkward.

“I freezed some milk and shaved that as well.”

They continue to eat in silence and the tension becomes heavy again. Lena just looks at Kara while she eats, and Kara looks back with a smile as she takes another scoop of the ice. That’s when Lena notices something.

“You’re just eating the ice! Eat some fruits!” Lena yells.

“Crap. You noticed. But the ice is the best part,” Kara replies and sticks her tongue out a little, gleeful at being caught.

Lena scoops all the fruits with her spoon and feeds it to Kara, “Here.”

“I can feed myself,” Kara mocks Lena’s earlier response.

“I scooped all the good parts for you,” Lena replies similarly as Kara’s. 

“I don’t like kiwis,” Kara pulls a face as she looks down at the green fruit on Lena’s spoon.

“What do you have against New Zealanders?” Lena laughs at her own joke.

“That is so stupid,” Kara chides but can’t help to laugh along as well when she sees Lena laughing. She notices that Lena rarely makes jokes, and when she does she always laughs to herself. Kara finds it super endearing.

“If you don’t like kiwi then why did you put it in?” Lena argues, her spoon still in front of Kara, waiting to feed her.

“The bowl is meant for you.”

Lena just shakes her head. Now she knows why Kara wanted to make a bowl for herself, hers would have less fruit and more ice cream probably. Lena eats the kiwi from her own spoon and offers it to Kara again, “There. No kiwi.”

Kara takes the offer and bites on Lena’s spoon longer than Lena expected. They linger for a few moments before Lena slides the spoon out of Kara’s mouth.

“This is totally worth skipping a week of payment, right?” Kara says with a sly smile.

“Can't believe you're actually making me stay here a week longer just so you can have homemade shaved ice.”

“Worth every cent.”


	11. travel

“Luthor, you speak Russian, right?”

“Are you asking or telling? You know this about me,” Lena scoffs as she types on her laptop. Kara’s sudden question feels like there’s a hidden motive. 

“Can you take some time off from work?” Kara asks, looking straight into Lena’s eyes with the intensity of a burning sun.

“Why are you making so much eye contact with me?”

“You have beautiful eyes,” Kara compliments, still staring. Lena knows she only compliments if she needs help.

“Ugh, fine, what do you want?”

“You know the illegal slave trade I’ve been researching? It leads to a good source in Kaznia, but our in-house Russian translator is away on maternity leave. So, my editor is looking for a freelancer and you’re the first person I could think of…” Kara stops, hoping Lena would fill in the rest.

“You want me to take some time off my work, so I can help with yours,” Lena finishes for Kara.

“It’s a free trip, my company’s paying for everything. I would rather travel with you than some stranger.” 

Lena's heart skips a beat when Kara says she'd rather travel with her but she’s still trying to get out of it, “Don’t you have someone else you know that can speak Russian? How about all your non-girlfriends?”

“Just you,” Kara smiles, “You’ll get paid, of course! That’s more money for the repair fund,” she crosses her fingers hoping that Lena would agree.

“Well, I shouldn’t be refusing more money at my current state. And I do have a few annual leaves I need to use before the end of this year,” Lena says to herself out loud while she resumes her typing and tries to ignore the warm feeling in her chest.

“Does this means you’re offering your help?” Kara grins and Lena looks up to see Kara’s bright face staring back at her.

“Honestly, I wasn’t… but based on how intensely you’re staring at me right now, I guess I’ve boxed myself into a corner,” Lena shrugs, “Fine, I guess.”

“You're a lifesaver!” Kara shrieks as she grabs Lena’s head and kisses on top of it quickly before she makes a quick call to her editor.

“My hair, can you not!” Lena yells back. She combs through her messed up hair with her fingers and curses internally at Kara’s recent behaviour. 

Lately, Kara’s subconscious display of affection has been increasing, much to Lena’s dismay. Kara has been more daring to touch her, feel her, holding her hands, once even putting an arm around Lena while they were walking. It doesn’t mean anything for Kara, Lena knows this much. Kara is someone who casually enjoys physical touches, so Lena knows this is normal behaviour for Kara. She’s seen her like this with her friends. But for Lena, who grew up in the Luthor mansion without affection in the house, every touch from Kara makes her feel very self-conscious. 

Although, for someone who is always emotionally on guard, Lena does revel in the fact that these gestures means Kara is more comfortable with Lena, and that makes her happy somewhat. Annoyed, self-conscious, but happy.

\--

Kara looks over at Lena who is reading a Russian phrase book, “You do know Russian, right?”

“Yes, I’m just trying to refresh my memory, it’s been awhile. I don’t have anyone I could practice with anymore,” Lena answers as she browses through the book. It will be another 6 hours before they land.

“Was it Lex? You practiced Russian with him?” Kara asks.

“Yeah, sometimes when we want to have a secret conversation we’ll talk in Russian or Mandarin in front of other people,” Lena smiles, remembering the numerous secret conversations she had with Lex when they were growing up.

“How was he?” Kara inquires, referring to the last time Lena visited him last month.

Lena closes the book and looks at Kara, “You don’t care how he is.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not letting me sleep, so I’m just trying to make some conversation, I guess,” Kara replies as she gives Lena the side eye. 

“We land at night, if you sleep now, you’ll have trouble getting some sleep later,” Lena repeats her reason and opens up her phrase book again.

When she sees Kara is about to doze off, Lena asks, "Question."

Kara turns over to face Lena a little, "Shoot."

Kara has been letting Lena ask her any questions about herself, to make up for all the digging Kara has on her. It's not like Lena minds all the information Kara has on her, after all Kara was just doing her job, but she finds it amusing to ask the questions and to know more about her roommate.

"Do you play any sports?"

"Not really. I was into basketball for a while in high school but I don’t have time for it now. You do fencing and polo."

"You know, you don't have to counter all my questions with facts about me every time."

"Can't I show off just a bit?" Kara smiles and lands her head on Lena’s shoulder. There it is again, the closeness that makes Lena pull away at first but she slowly settles into the touch, letting Kara lie on her shoulders.

“You really won't let me sleep? Even for just a little bit?” Kara asks for permission.

“Do whatever you want, Danvers,” Lena shakes her head dismissively, “if you have trouble sleeping later it’s not my problem.”

“You’re a great pillow, Luthor. So soft,” Kara teases as she leans her head further.

“Shut up,” Lena smiles.

\--

Kara comes to Lena who is checking out brochures in the hotel’s lobby.

“They said there’s only one bed. You don’t mind, right?” Kara tells her as she gives Lena one of the hotel room keys.

“What? Let me talk to them,” Lena picks up her bag and storms to the receptionist. Kara just shakes her head and follows her soon after. Kara stands by at the side while she just watches Lena communicate fluently in Russian. When the receptionist looks like she’s apologizing profusely, Lena throws an indignant look to Kara.

“There’s only one bed,” Lena pouts.

“Told you. Why can’t you just trust me?”

Lena sighs and picks up her bag. She takes another look at her key card again and walks to the elevator.

When she was still staying silent in the elevator, Kara speaks up to relieve the tension, “It’s just a bed.”

"Do not take advantage of me, I’m not like one of your girls," Lena warns.

"Luthor, please," Kara scoffs, "even if you’re sprawled naked on the bed, I wouldn’t make a move on you."

"Uh uh, no. No one is going to be naked anywhere. And you!" Lena points to Kara, "You're not allowed to sleep naked today!"

"Oh, come on. That was one time! And I didn't know you would be home early," Kara groans but takes a peek at Lena, who is avoiding her gaze.

"I didn't mind you taking a look at the goods, what did you think?" Kara teases, she loves making Lena blush, since Lena is so shy when it comes to nudity.

"I- you- I didn't- I mean- I didn't even- Shut up!" Lena stumbles her words and Kara just laughs. The elevator door opens and they walk side by side to their room.

The room is small, probably apt with how much Kara's company is paying for it. Lena also found out that translators are not paid enough, as she makes more on her engineer's salary. But it's a free holiday, and the interview will probably last a few hours so she can't complain. 

"Do you want to use the bathroom first?" Kara offers and Lena nods. She takes all the clothes she needs for sleep but Kara stops her. "You can change in the room, I'll go in after you."

After a few moments of hesitation, Lena complies and takes just a towel and toiletries. While Lena is in the bathroom, Kara takes out her iPad, her journal and her stationary and puts it on the desk as she double checks the details for her interview tomorrow. She reads back the draft of her article that she has so far, and hopes tomorrow's session could provide more information that she needs. 

"Danvers?" 

Lena's voice brings Kara back to reality as she closes her journal. Kara turns around and Lena is wrapped in a towel, waiting for Kara to get inside the bathroom so she can change. Lena looks different in just a towel, as this was the only time Kara sees her without barely any clothes on. She always changes in the bathroom at the apartment. She was even covered from top to bottom while at the beach. Kara noticed that Lena's hair is not fully wet, so she must have taken just a quick shower. Lena is clutching tightly to the towel in front of her chest, trying hard to ignore Kara's gaze, as she hurries Kara, "Can you go in already? I want to change."

"Right. Sorry," Kara apologizes and grabs a towel before she heads into the bathroom. She took a very cold shower that night.

When she steps out, she sees that Lena has laid down the duvet cover on the floor and taken one of the pillows from the bed. 

"Don't be ridiculous, Luthor. You don't have to sleep on the floor," Kara says while she changes right in front of Lena. Lena quickly looks away. It's not like she's not used to Kara changing, as this is how she behaves in the apartment, but being stuck with her in a small hotel room somehow makes Lena more aware how acutely close they are to each other right now. Sleeping in the same bed is the last thing Lena wants.

"It's fine, it's just two nights. You can take the bed," Lena insists.

"The bed is big enough for the both of us."

“The floor is bigger.”

When she sees that Lena is being stubborn, Kara takes a pillow and joins Lena on the floor.

“Now  _ you're _ being ridiculous,” Lena says with a clenched jaw, pushing Kara away.

Kara fights to stay with Lena, “Am I? If you're sleeping on the floor, I'm sleeping on the floor with you.”

“You really want to sleep with me that much, Danvers?” Lena looks at Kara and shoves Kara forcefully when Kara doesn’t move.

“Am I that aversive to you, Luthor?” Kara asks seriously that makes Lena feel like her insistence seems absurd right now.

“No, it's just…”

“It's just a bed.”

When Lena stops fighting, Kara stands up and offers a hand, “Come, it's late. We have to get up early tomorrow. Don't fight with me on this.”

“Okay.”

_ It's just a bed _ . Lena repeats Kara's words in her head. When Kara sleeps on the right side of the bed, Lena lays herself down on the left side. She tries to sleep as far away from Kara as possible but Kara just laughs out loud when she sees Lena’s antics.

“You're literally on the edge of the bed, you're going to fall off.”

Kara scoots herself closer to the middle and tells Lena to do the same thing, “Come closer, I won't bite.”

Lena moves closer to the middle just a little bit.

“Closer,” Kara gestures to Lena with a wave of a hand.

Lena scoots closer to the middle of the bed, just far enough that they’re not touching each other, but close enough that Lena could feel Kara’s presence linger if she closes her eyes. 

“See, it’s not that bad. Are you comfortable?” Kara asks as she brings up the comforter higher to cover the both of them.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Good night, Luthor.”

“Good night, Danvers.”

Kara’s right. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with two frenemies sharing a bed. Lena overthinks things as usual and tries to go to sleep, hoping the racing of her heart would calm down soon enough.

\--

As hard as Lena tries to go to sleep, Kara shuffling about next to her is not helping. She could hear Kara turning around every few minutes and sighs loudly. Lena pretends to be asleep and hopes Kara would go to sleep soon too. 

“Hey, Luthor? Are you up?” Kara asks the room. Lena is still pretending to be asleep but Kara's sudden question surprised her and she was sure Kara noticed it.

“No,” Lena replies after a few seconds of hesitation, eyes still closed.

“I can't sleep,” Kara confesses. 

“I told you not to nap on the plane.” Lena opens her eyes and turns around to look at Kara angrily.

“I think it’s because I don’t have my bolster with me,” Kara says with a pitiful look. That damn bolster that she hugs to sleep. One time, Lena took it for a wash and got an earful from Kara. Since then, Lena left that bolster alone.

“Go ask for a pillow from housekeeping,” Lena suggests irately.

“It’s late, I don’t want to bother them,” Kara replies with a sad look on her face. 

Knowing that an awakened Kara will not help Lena with her sleep, Lena wants to say something absurd, but she doesn’t want Kara to make fun of her later. 

“I’m going to suggest something, but after it is done, we drop it immediately and forever.”

“Now  _ I’m _ scared,” Kara chuckles.

“Immediately and forever, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You can put your hand over me and pretend I’m your bolster.  _ Just _ to help you sleep!” Lena raises her voice when she sees Kara’s face perks up. 

“I promise I will never bring this up ever again,” Kara smiles.

Resentfully, Lena scoots closer to Kara, facing away from her. Kara slowly places her hand over Lena’s waist, resting it on top of her. They’re so close, Lena could feel Kara’s breath on her hair.

“Is it okay if I hug tighter?” Kara asks respectfully.

Lena didn’t answer but just takes Kara's hands and guides her closer so that her arm is around Lena. Once Lena feels comfortable at their closeness, she speaks up, “Go to sleep, Danvers.”

“I'll try. Thanks,” Kara mumbles. 

Minutes turn to hours, and breathing turns to tranquil, as Kara slowly falls asleep, with her hand hugging Lena. The racing of her heart is not slowing down, and Lena hopes it’s not that evident to Kara. Kara’s grip slowly loosens as she gradually falls asleep, but Lena just lets her hand lie there.

Lena is vexed because now she’s the one having trouble sleeping.

\--

“Thank you so much,” Kara shakes the interviewee’s hands and Lena repeats it in Russian. Lena shakes his hands as well and they bid him farewell as they leave the coffee house.

Once they get on the bus back to their hotel, Kara plays back the tape to make sure the recording is audible. Lena would never tell Kara this, but she finds it admirable how serious Kara treats her job. And today after witnessing Kara's interviewing’s skill, her admiration just keeps growing. 

“All good?” Lena asks.

“Yeah, just double checking. Thanks, you did great today,” Kara smiles as she praises Lena. 

Lena just shrugs it off, not used to being praised by Kara, “It’s nothing. I’m being paid to do it.”

“Oh, come on. The pay is nothing. You did this because you wanted to help me. Accept my thanks, Luthor.”

“You think so highly of yourself, Danvers. I’m only doing this because of the free trip. Plus, I need a holiday.”

“A 2 nights stay in Kaznia can barely constitute a holiday for a Luthor,” Kara laughs, “this is not your usual Paris or Tokyo.”

“It’s a free hotel stay and I get paid on top of it, it’s a holiday for this Lena Luthor.”

“What is this Lena Luthor’s idea of a good holiday?” Kara asks.

“Read a good book… relaxing... running away from my problems,” Lena answers with a smile.

“Ah, the 3 Rs,” Kara laughs, pointing out the similarities from Lena’s list of reasons.

“Refraining myself from strangling you,” Lena adds.

“You’re into choking?” Kara makes a shocked gesture as she smiles slyly to Lena.

“I hate you,” Lena laughs.

\--

“Oh, come on. We can’t cuddle tonight?” Kara does an exaggerated fake pout as Lena gives her the extra pillow she requested from housekeeping.

“You’re hot,” Lena says but quickly corrects herself when she sees Kara’s grinning face, “I mean temperature wise! You run hot. It’s uncomfortable. So stay away from me tonight.”

Kara throws the pillow on the bed and jumps on the bed herself. Lena slowly slides in from the opposite side, and takes the same place she slept the night before. Kara pretends to hug Lena when she scoots closer to the middle but Lena just laughs as she shoves Kara away. Laughing with Kara in the same bed feels like some sort of ease that is unfamiliar to Lena. Lena has never had a sleepover with friends before, but right now she thinks this is the closest she’ll ever get to have that experience.

“What are you so afraid of, Luthor?” Kara turns to her side to ask Lena after yet another rejected hug, while cuddling her own extra pillow.

“Right now? You,” Lena turns to her side as well to look at Kara as she answers her face to face. 

“I'm not going to do anything.” 

“I’m not taking any chances.”

“For your information, I'm not someone who would sleep with a person just because I want to, especially when that person doesn't give her consent.”

Lena paused at something Kara said. She pondered if she should ask further but decided to go ahead and ask anyway, “Do you want to? Sleep with me?”

“Only if you want to,” Kara smirks and raises her eyebrows. Lena’s heart starts pounding faster. Is this how Kara flirts with all her girls? It doesn’t help that they’re on the same bed, facing each other as Lena is trying to figure out if Kara is just playing with her. 

“Full payment if you fall for me,” Lena reminds her.

“Just because I sleep with someone doesn’t mean I have fallen for them.”

“I don't get it.”

“Get what?”

“How do you sleep with someone if you don't love them?”

“Love? You're such a romantic. Was that how it was when you slept with Jack?”

“I didn’t sleep with Jack.”

Lena’s confession is met with silence. Lena’s eyes widen as she realizes what she just admitted. She only has one ex, Jack was the only person she had ever dated. With this admission, Lena could see Kara’s mind turning as she reached the only conclusion.

“Luthor, are you admitting you didn’t love Jack or are you saying you’re a virgin?”

Lena’s face blushes and she turns around to face away from Kara. 

“Oh. My. God.” Kara exclaims as she moves closer to Lena, grabbing her shoulders to make her face Kara again, but Lena turns further away and buries her head into her pillow.

“Shut up,” Lena says into her pillow.

“Everything makes so much sense now.”

“ _ Shut up _ ,” Lena screams into her pillow, hoping the fluffy texture would mask some of the volume.

“You're not a prude, you're just a virgin!” Kara gets a tad too excited now as she gives a comforting sideway hug to Lena. 

Lena lets out a long groan as she sits herself up on the bed, her back leaning on the headboard as she hugs her pillow.

“I hate you,” she whispers into her pillow but directs her words to Kara.

“Hey, if you need someone to teach you some tips or tricks, with feelings off the table, you know who to come to.”

At Kara’s offer, Lena buries her face more into her pillow. Kara sits up next to Lena and nudges Lena’s shoulder with her own.

“Awww, you're already blushing. That's so cute.”

“I'm not a little girl! I know what sex is!”

“If you want to  _ really _ know, the offer's open for you, Luthor. Any time," Kara laughs.

“Look, just drop this! Please? This is not some anecdote about my life you can lord over me. I happen to care who I choose to have sex with! And so what if I'm a romantic? I would rather sleep with one person that I love than sleep with hundreds of people who I have no connection with. I'm not you,” Lena snaps but regrets it immediately. It wasn’t that she was ashamed about this aspect of her life, but Kara’s incessant teasing was getting to her. She didn’t mean to blurt out half the thing she said.

“Sorry, I’ll stop,” Kara apologizes, “let’s go to sleep, we need to check-out by 10.”

Kara slinks back down to the bed, and switches off the bedside lamp, “Good night, Luthor.”

“Good night, Danvers,” Lena replies under her breath.

Kara hugs her extra pillow, and turns away from Lena as she tries to go to sleep. Even after they exchange their nightly ritual, Lena feels a heavy tension between them. She feels this unmitigated need to make things between them just like how they were a few minutes ago. Kara must have felt the same because she speaks up first before Lena could say something.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you angry. I was just teasing. I’ll drop it.”

“I’m not angry,” Lena talks into the darkness.

"I didn't mean to make you  _ not _ angry," Kara replies.

When more silence filled the night, Lena adds on, “I’m not implying that you’re an immoralist or horrible or whatever, you know? I just feel love is an important factor, at least for me.”

Kara turns around and faces Lena, although it’s hard to make out her reaction in the absence of light, “You said you wanted to drop it, this doesn’t sound like dropping it.”

"I don't want to go to sleep feeling like this."

"Feeling like what?"

"Weird between us."

"We're good, Luthor."

Even as Kara says it, Lena still finds it hard to believe in her words. Kara must have felt it as well, as she continues and picks up the conversation.

"It's not that I'm anti-love, for me, it’s better for both parties when there’s no feelings involved.”   
“Why?”

“It’s just easier.”

"Okay, question."

"Shoot."

“How do you do it? With people you’re not in love with? Where’s the magic?”

“Sex is sex. It’s chemistry. Not magic. Love don’t grant you magical powers to make sex better.”

"Question," Lena asks again and Kara just pauses while she waits for Lena to continue, "why are you so afraid of feelings? What's wrong with letting people in? People like Eve?"

"It's just easier to get out of something when you're not that attached to it," Kara answers.

“But why do you want to get out of it? The whole idea of a relationship is to stay in it.”

“Because it hurts a lot when the person you love leaves you.”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?”

Kara went silent after Lena’s question and the stillness made Lena understand Kara more than any words could. 

“You have to give yourself a chance to love. The prospect of getting hurt shouldn’t deter you from fully loving someone.”

“No thanks. I like my life now. No feelings, no strings attached, no hurt. You of all people should understand what it feels like when people you love leave you without warning."

"Our parents left us because they died. It’s not the same with a break-up, Danvers."

"Hurt is hurt, I don't want to ever feel like that again."

Lena just snorts a laugh at Kara’s illogical reason, "So you left Eve before she has a chance to leave you? You're a dick."

"Oh come on, we weren't even together. It was casual. I'm sparing both of us the inevitable heartbreak."

"Still a dick move. She really likes you."

"Trust me. Better for her to leave and move on now before the feeling gets deeper."

"You're so…. ugh!" Lena shouts her frustration but Kara just laughs it off.

"Why are you so invested in my love life?"

“It’s like… you’re not even fighting for a chance to be happy.”

“And being with Eve would make me happy?”   
“It could, if you gave it a chance.”

“Trust me. She would be happier with someone else.”

Lena usually thinks of Kara as this unattainably bright presence, a ball of sunshine that is hard to grasp. But today she could see Kara has a dark shadow within her as well. A darkness Lena knows too well. It’s the same darkness that makes Lena wall off anyone who comes near her, but for Kara seems like the walls are more like layers. People gravitate towards her, and Kara lets them, but only to hover around the outer layer, never too close. Kara will never grant them permission to really know her, to really get to her inner layer.

Now, Lena doesn’t really know why she is invested in Kara’s love life. Part of her thinks because Eve is her friend, and Kara didn’t really give their relationship a shot it deserves. But there’s a deeper part still that really wants Kara to find happiness. As different as they are from each other, there’s the familiar similarity as well. Maybe if Kara could find happiness, there’s hope yet for Lena Luthor to find hers.

“One day, Kara Danvers, you're going to find a love you'll fight for.”

\--

The first night after they got back from Kaznia, Kara suggests to Lena to sleep on her bed.

"Why?"

"You've slept in my bed before, so what's the problem?"

"Without you around. I can sleep on the couch just fine."

"Come on, you've slept on the couch for three months now. Give your body a rest and just sleep on my bed. It's big enough for two. Do you really want to spend the next three months on the couch?"

When Lena hesitates, Kara argues, "If we survived 2 nights in Kaznia, what's 12 more weeks in National City?"

Kara's argument was sound. It’s not like anything will ever happen between them. At least, nothing that Lena can think of. Kara can flirt and tease all she wants, Lena knows it’s all part of her charm, nothing more. In the end, Kara managed to convince Lena to sleep in the bed together instead of the couch. Although it didn’t take much convincing, as Lena’s back is starting to feel the impact of sleeping on the couch on and off for three months, and Kara’s bed is so inviting. 

As Lena slides into bed, Kara jokes, “Do you need me to tape down the middle of the bed too?”

“You’re too much,” Lena smiles and laughs a little, “Good night, Danvers.”

“Good night, Luthor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter was too long lol


	12. dress up

“Hey, get down. The elevator is broken again.”

Kara sighs when she hears Lena on the other end of the call, “Can’t you get the groceries up yourself?”

“If you don’t get down in 5 minutes, I will leave your beers downstairs.”

“Kidding, I’m already downstairs. I’m behind you.”

Lena turns around and looks at nothing, “Where?”

Kara laughs, “I’m still in bed. Can’t believe you fell for that.”

“5 minutes, Danvers!” 

Lena hangs up her phone but she could hear the cackling of Kara’s laughter still echoing in her ear.

When Kara appears in the apartment’s lobby, she can see that the carton of beer and grocery bags are already beside the door next to the stairs. Lena is walking from the mailbox so Kara asks, “Did you take my mails too?”

“Already did,” Lena says as she puts all the mails on the carton and passes Kara something, “here's your car keys. It's making that sound again."

"Just blast the radio up."

"We can't keep ignoring the sound  _ every time _ . Anyway, carry that," Lena points to the carton of beer, "I’ll get the bags.”

“Why must I do the heavy lifting?” Kara pouts.

“Because it’s  _ your _ beer,” Lena gives the sly smile that Kara used to hate. Kara is thankful that Lena actually bought it, even though Kara only wrote  _ a carton of beer _ on the grocery list as a joke. She kinda loves how Lena still can’t differentiate when Kara does something as a joke or when she actually means it. It didn’t help the matter when Kara does everything with a smile. 

"Hey, next time wake me up before you do the grocery. I can help, you know?"

"And watch you buy all the junk foods? No thanks," Lena asks questionably. In truth, she's actually happy Kara offered her help, and wonders if grocery shopping would be a lot more fun if Kara comes along. Probably more tiring, she can already imagine stopping Kara from getting the gummy candies, but more fun perhaps.

By the third floor, Kara starts grunting and drops the carton on the floor. Lena slows down as well and stands beside Kara while she takes a breather.

“You can go up first,” Kara says.

“It’s alright, I need a rest. The bags are heavy too,” Lena says as she puts down the bags on the floor. Kara’s eyes land on the mails on top of the carton, especially drawn to the gold and black postcard at the very top.

“Hey, what's this about a charity event?” Kara picks up the postcard and sees that it’s addressed to Lena, “Can I?”

Lena nods at Kara’s question. When Lena gives her permission for Kara to read the invitation, she studies the card more. It’s in a week and hosted by Spheerical Industries. 

“It’s next weekend,” Kara says, “let’s go.”

“No,” is all the answer Lena gives and grabs the grocery bags, “okay, enough rest, let's go up."

"Wait."

Kara struggles to carry her carton and catch up with Lena. By the time she reached her apartment, she was winded. Lena hands her a mug filled with water.

“Thanks. You're not going to go? You've been cooped up in the house ever since I've known you,” Kara says in between heavy breaths. She sits down on the stool in her area around the kitchen island as Lena proceeds to put in their groceries in the refrigerator. Kara could see there’s the usual fruits, vegetables, yogurts and that low-calorie ice cream Lena loves.

“When you have my reputation, you don't exactly want to be in the public eye that often. Your article helped, but some people still hate my guts,” Lena replies as she sorts out her groceries, ignoring the tape in the middle of all the trays and just placing everything equally. She knows Kara won’t eat her fruits and salads.

“But it's a charity event by your ex! You can meet up with friends from your circle! And you can bring me as your plus one.”

“Okay one, former circle. They stopped making contact with me ever since Lex got thrown into jail. And two,” Lena closes the refrigerator door and looks at Kara, “why would I ever bring you along? You know what, I know why. You just want to see if there's any single ladies there you can hook up with,” Lena groans as she realizes why Kara is so eager for her to go to this event. 

“And you say you don't know anything about me,” Kara grins, “Plus there's an—”

“Open bar, I know.”

“Then, let's go.”

“No.”

“Think of the poor children.”

“It's a charity for Alzheimer's.”

“Think of the poor children with Alzheimer's.”

The image of children with Alzheimer’s garnered a small laugh from Lena. It’s such an absurd image that Kara has conjured up in her head.

“Idiot,” Lena says, still laughing a bit.

“Think of me, I need free drinks. I'm a charity case too.”

“You really need someone to hook up with that bad, huh?” Lena shakes her head. It’s true, it’s been a while since Kara has someone over. It must be demoralizing when the only person in your bed every night is your nemesis. But Lena still has her concerns about attending this event.

“I'm sure Jack wrongly invited me, he doesn't want this Lena Luthor at his gala,” Lena gestures up and down to herself. She’s not the Lena that Jack knows. Not anymore.

“It is addressed to your current apartment. Trust me, he wants you there,” Kara reassures her.

“I don't have anything to wear. I don't have a dress,” Lena raises up another problem of hers. Attending is one thing, she needs to show up looking like how she used to look like.

“What do you mean you don’t have a dress? What about your wardrobe upstairs?” Kara asks.

“What wardrobe? Every piece of clothing I own is here,” Lena points to her box of clothes she keeps by the couch.

“Oh. I thought it was a choice when you wear the same thing everyday. Shit, they really threw you out of the mansion without anything, huh?”

“Well, they didn’t take everything. Most of the expensive jewelry and branded dresses, shoes, purses and handbags are obviously confiscated. I still get to keep some of my everyday clothes. And this,” Lena fiddles with her mom’s diamond ring on her index finger. 

“We can go out and buy a dress?” Kara suggests.

Lena just smiles at her suggestion, “With what money?”

“Skip this week’s payment! That’s a hundred bucks easy in your budget.”

“You sure? I have to stay here another extra week.”

“Positive!” Kara’s face lights up as she replies. Lena wasn’t sure if it was because of the idea of shopping for a new dress, or because Kara can skip her payments this week.

“I guess if we can skip this week’s payment…”

“Yes! You are in dire need of a proper dress anyway, even without this event! Let’s go!” Kara grabs Lena’s arms and heads out the door.

“Wait, Danvers! Now? At least let me grab my purse!”

When Lena meets up with Kara again by the door, Kara laughs a little and asks her, “Hey, do you think if we skip next week’s payment as well, we can get a limo to go to the event?”

“Do you want me to stay here forever? Stop trying to spend money on frivolous stuff!” 

“I don’t mind,” Kara smiles and grabs Lena by the arms as they make their way down.

When Kara starts her car, it’s making the usual screeching sound it makes and Kara turns the volume of her radio up to mask it. Lena just shakes her head and smiles at the gesture.

\--

“Try this hat,” Kara puts on a bowler hat on Lena’s head.

“I look like an English businessman from the 19th century. Can you stop?” Lena takes off the hat and slaps Kara’s arms lightly when she can’t stop laughing.

Kara picks up a purple dress with huge ruffles on the shoulder next, “How about this?”

“Your sense of fashion is the worst,” Lena shakes her head.

“Excuse me. The suit I wore during the gala when I went with Sam would beg to differ,” Kara replies smugly as she looks at Sam. They’re at a consignment shop that Sam works at. It specializes in selling designer dresses that are only worn once, perfect for Lena to look fashionable at a reasonable price. 

“I picked out that suit. You didn’t do anything, babe,” Sam calls Kara out and Lena just laughs lightly.

“I wore the hell out of it,” Kara smirks.

Lena remembers the golden floral patterned suit well. Kara really looked dashing that night. As she scours the rack for that one perfect dress, Lena takes a look at the price tag first and gets disheartened when every dress is way over her budget. 

“Lena, you can use my staff discount, I can get you 15% off,” Sam says when she notices Lena looking at the price tag.

“Really? Thank you so much, Sam!”

When a customer calls for Sam, she excuses herself, “Just call for me if you need me, okay?”

“Thanks, honey,” Kara replies as she gives Sam a quick peck on her cheek.

“Are you buying a dress as well? You have an extra hundred with you this week too,” Lena asks as she browses more of the dresses on the rack. 

“Maybe, if I find one. Okay, stop,” Kara stops Lena when she takes a look at the price tag again before looking at the dress, “just pick a few dresses that you like and try it out. Don’t look at the price tag.”

“But what if-”

“Don’t look. Just choose the dresses you like. Trust me,” Kara smiles gently at Lena.

“Okay,” Lena agrees meekly and starts browsing through the racks, this time really looking at the dress and ignoring the price tag. When she sees a sleeveless purple high neck midi dress she takes it out and looks at it.

“You like that one?”

“No, I thought this would look great on you. Brings out your best feature,” Lena smiles as she takes the dress and brings it up to Kara, imagining how it would look like if she wears it.

Kara grins at that statement, “Really? What is my best feature?”

When Lena realizes what she just said she backtracks immediately, “Instant regret. Instant. The second I said it,” and puts the dress back on the rack.

“No, no, no, come on. What is my best feature?”

“Nope. I’m not gonna say it.”

“I could tell you what yours is,” Kara raises her eyebrows as she replies and Lena just groans.

“Oh my god, please don’t.”

“You have a lovely neck,” Kara answers even though Lena didn’t want to hear it.

“Really? Not the devil horns on my head?” Lena replies as she winces at Kara's answer.

“Your turn, tell me what’s my best feature.”

Lena takes a pause from her browsing and sighs, she knows Kara won’t let this one go.

“You have nice toned arms.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard. So, you like my arms, huh?” Kara smirks as she flexes her arms in front of Lena.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Lena rolls her eyes again and continues browsing. Kara purposely reaches for the higher placed dresses so that her arm will be in Lena’s view but Lena just scoffs at it. She regrets telling Kara but at the same time touches her own neck without thinking. No one has ever said they like her neck before, it’s a weird feeling.

After choosing three dresses without looking at the price tag, they head to the changing room. Kara took the purple dress that brings out her best feature much to Lena’s annoyance. When they both came out of the dressing room wearing the dresses they chose, both of them marveled at their new outfits. 

“I really look good in this, you’re right,” Kara says as she looks at herself in the mirror. Lena is standing next to her in a tight black dress that accentuates her body shape.

“I don’t know, Danvers, how much is this?” Lena turns around so Kara could look at the price tag at the back of her dress.

“Yikes, $375. How much is mine?” Kara asks as she turns around so Lena could peek at her price tag.

“$97! It’s well within your budget! You should take it!” Lena exclaims excitedly as if she’s the one who found a dress for herself.

“Really? Okay, you have two more dresses to try, right? Go try them. Remember.”

“Don’t look at the price tag, I know.”

The second dress is a floral print v-neck dress, that goes well with Lena’s long black hair that drops to either side. She turns around to let Kara have a look at the price tag. Kara’s cringed face was enough of a reply as Lena just sighs again.

“It’s okay, you have one more dress to try. And I have plenty of other non-girlfriends who have staff discounts, we can go to Eve’s store,” Kara reassures her.

“She works at a froyo shop, Danvers.”

“Discounted froyos are sorely needed in this trying times,” Kara jokes but Lena wasn’t laughing. Kara could feel she’s stressed out at choosing a dress, “Just go try out your last dress. Go.”

Sam comes over to the dressing room and asks Kara, “Found a dress?”

“She’s inside. Trying her third one,” Kara replies.

“You haven’t been coming over lately,” Sam holds Kara’s waist and brings her closer.

“Been a bit busy, honey. Sorry,” Kara apologizes as she gives Sam a quick kiss, “how about you come over later and I’ll make you some delicious  _ bingsu _ ?”

“I love Lena, babe, but me coming over to your house means I can’t get my fair share of Kara Danvers. I miss your bed. How many more weeks left?”

“11. No wait, 12. She’s staying an extra week because of this dress,” Kara chuckles.

“I don’t know how you find this funny.”

“You have to admit, it’s a little funny. And feel free to sleep with anyone else, I’m not stopping you.”

“But you’re my favorite,” Sam kisses Kara deeply but stops when she hears Lena step out of her dressing room.

The third dress fits Lena perfectly. She looks so exquisite that the moment she stepped out of the changing room, Kara had her mouth wide open. The sequin midi dress shows off all her curves and provides a boat neckline that highlights Lena’s best feature. Lena has the brightest smile when she looks at herself in the mirror.

“You look beautiful,” Kara says the first thing on her mind.

“That looks great on you, Lena,” Sam adds.

“Thanks, I really like this one. How much is it?” Lena asks and turns around, still worried about her money situation. Both Kara and Sam come over to look at it.

When Kara sees the price tag with $237 marked on it she looks at Sam and lies, “It's $115. With Sam’s discount, it’s like what? $97? $98? That’s less than a hundred! I think this is a sign, you should take it!”

“Really? Oh my God, I didn't think a dress as pretty as this could be within my budget.”

“I told you to trust me, right? I’m never wrong,” Kara smiles.

“Just take the dress off and I’ll help ring it up,” Sam offers and Kara adds, “I’ll help you pay for it while you get dressed.”

“Okay. Danvers, take the hundred from my purse, Thanks.”

When Lena passes Sam the dress from the changing room, Sam brings it to the cash register.

Kara comes over and takes out a hundred from Lena’s purse and another hundred from her own wallet as Sam rings her up. 

“It’s $201.45. After my discount.”

“Just don’t tell her,” Kara says while she grabs an extra two dollars from her wallet to give to Sam.

“Why are you doing this?”

“She needs a dress. Just let me help her.”

“There are other dresses,” Sam argues, “cheaper dresses. I could still help you look.”

“You saw how happy she was with this one. If she knew the real price, there was no way she would get it. I have plenty of other outfits I could wear, at the very least let me help her get this one,” Kara tries to justify her reason. When Lena looked so happy stepping out of the changing room, Kara was resolved to get her roommate that dress no matter what. 

“I’m not here to lecture you what to do with your money, babe, but people don’t do this kind of thing for a roommate.”

“Are you jealous, honey?” Kara smiles, “I’m not sleeping with her if that's what you're jealous about.”

“I’ll be less jealous if you  _ are _ sleeping with her,” Sam starts to fold the dress to put it in the paper bag, “I thought Kara Danvers didn't deal with feelings.”

“I don’t have feelings for her. She’s just a friend,” Kara defends herself and stops Sam, “oh, and can you cut out the price tag? I don’t want her to find out.”

Sam just smirks and shakes her head at Kara's request while she grabs a scissors, “I just think maybe she’s the reason why you stopped sleeping with me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m really busy with my assignments. Also, don’t bring this dress thing up with her, if she finds out I’m doing this, she’ll be like you and assume things. I don’t want to pay full amount for the repairs. We have that bet, remember?”

“If you didn’t have the bet, how do you really feel about her?”

Before Kara could respond, Lena shows up with the clothes she wore originally, so Sam quickly puts on a smile. 

“All settled, here’s your dress,” she says as she passes the paper bag to Lena.

Lena takes a peek inside the bag and looks at Kara, “Where’s your dress?”

“I think I’ll just wear the suit I wore to the gala. Why waste money to buy a dress?” Kara shrugs nonchalantly and throws a look at Sam.

“You just want to spend that money on frivolous stuff.” 

"You mean I can't get another ice shaving machine?"

"I hate that I can't tell if you're joking or not but just to cover my bases, please don't get another ice shaving machine."

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Sam teases when she sees their banter.

“L-lovebirds? Sam, please! We’re not…” Lena protests but Sam just walks away slowly, “thanks again!” Lena says as she raises her paper bag.

“Anytime, lovebirds!” Sam shouts back and Kara just shakes her head while Lena looks very confused.

When they step out of the store Lena asks Kara, “What was that all about? What did you tell her?”

“That’s just Sam playing around. Don’t mind her,” Kara replies.

“Does she think we’re dating? I have to set things straight with her,” Lena tries to go back into the store but Kara grabs her arms and stops her, “No one is thinking we’re dating. Don’t worry.”

They continue walking to the car with Kara’s arms around Lena.

"Tell you the truth, I actually didn't have a hundred this week, I already spent it. That’s why I didn’t buy the dress," Kara tries to change the topic with a half truth so Lena would forget about what Sam said.

"No wonder you're so eager to see me spend mine on a dress! You're the worst, Danvers!" Lena gasps and slaps Kara's arms, "What the hell did you spend your money on??"

"Secret," Kara winks, "but I think my money was well spent,” Kara smiles and laughs when she sees Lena looking at her curiously.

_ Sam’s wrong. Friends buy friends dresses. It’s a normal thing to do. _ Kara convinces herself as she sees Lena take another peek at her dress in the paper bag. Just the smile on Lena's face makes Kara smile herself. 

She can’t wait for this charity event.


	13. lucky

It's the night before the charity event and Lena has the bed all to herself. Kara is away in Metropolis for an assignment but she said she'll be back in time for the event to accompany Lena. This is actually the first night they're away from each other since Kaznia but Lena has much bigger issues she needs to deal with than thinking about the lack of Kara in their bed. Lena starts fidgeting and shuffles around. Her stomach is aching and she groans as Lena knows she only gets stomach aches if she's nervous. She hates that she's nervous for this event. When her phone rings, she feels thankful for the distraction.

"Danvers? Why are you calling? Is something wrong?" Lena asks. It’s late, and Kara never calls.

"Yeah, I can't sleep without you snoring next to me. You've become my white noise.”

"I don't snore!"

"And how would you know that?" Kara laughs, even from Metropolis she could picture the annoyance on Lena's face.

"Do I really?" Lena asks for confirmation.

"It's not loud. It's like this noise you make with your nose. It's cute."

"Really? Snoring is cute now?"

"It is when it's from you."

At Kara’s reply, Lena blushes but quickly remembers who she’s talking to, "You're such a flirt, do you know that?" 

"Is it working? Are you falling for me yet?" and Lena could hear Kara grinning in her question.

"You wish. All I'm thinking right now is the event, I don't have time for your silly mind games," Lena mutters, still nursing her stomach ache.

"Are you nervous about the charity event tomorrow?" Kara asks.

"My stomach hurts. I feel like throwing up," Lena starts to curl into a ball on her side of the bed, while still holding the phone up to her ear.

“You deserve a day out. Just think of it as a normal event. With free drinks.”

“A normal event filled with photographers and people who used to know me.”

"It's just your nerves. Try to calm yourself down."

"Easier said than done."

"Okay, I'm going to sing something for you," Kara says after a beat. She actually sounds serious that Lena wasn’t sure if she heard correctly.

"What?"

"Remember Kaznia? I do this for you, and we drop it immediately and forever. Consider it a thanks for letting me use you as a bolster."

"If this is a joke, I swear you'll be getting it from me when you come back."

"It's not. Relax."

Relax is the last thing on Lena's mind as her whole body is tensing up. Only when Kara starts to sing an unfamiliar lullaby, Lena starts to loosen up. Kara has a nice soothing voice, the kind of voice you want to hear each night before you go to sleep. 

_ Do, do, l’enfant do, _

_ L’enfant dormira bien vite. _

_ Do, do, l’enfant do, _

_ L’enfant dormira bientôt. _

It was nice. Really nice. For a brief moment, Lena closes her eyes and just lets Kara's voice drifts her away. When Kara stops singing it's like Lena has been jerked back to reality, she wanted Kara to keep singing but didn't want to tell her.

"I didn't know you knew French," Lena says after a few moments of silence.

"I don't. My mom used to sing that to me when I was a kid." 

"You have a nice voice," Lena replies with a small laugh. She didn’t mean to laugh but it just came out. Maybe the random singing made her more giddy than she thought it would.

"Drop it immediately and forever, remember?" Kara says with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"I'm not making fun of you! You can really sing," Lena tries to reply as sincerely as possible. It’s hard to convey her sincerity over a telephone call.

Kara just laughs a little at how frantically Lena is trying to convince her, "Okay, I believe you. How's your nerves?" 

"My stomach is not hurting anymore at least. I'm still worried about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's event is going to be fine. You'll be fine."

"You promise you'll come back tomorrow?"

"I'll be back before we leave for the event, I won't let you go alone. I promise."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Good night, Luthor."

"Good night, Danvers."

Lena puts her phone back on the nightstand and tries to go back to sleep. Without realizing it she takes Kara’s bolster and places it next to her. It feels like Kara is in bed with her and that makes Lena calmer as her eyes slowly close and her mind drifts away, with Kara’s singing still echoing in her head.

\--

Kara comes back earlier than promised, and they get ready for the event together. Kara waits by the kitchen table and plays with her phone while Lena finishes her makeup. When Lena emerges, Kara looks at her with a wide smile. Lena’s wearing the dress they bought at Sam's shop last week, and Kara is sporting the suit she wore when she went to the gala with Sam.

"You look great."

"Thanks, you too."

"Ready?" Kara offers her arm to escort Lena.

"No," Lena replies worriedly and takes a seat by the kitchen island, having second thoughts about the event.

Kara comes over to Lena and takes her hand in hers, "Okay, how about this. Any time you feel uncomfortable and you want to leave just give me a signal."

"What kind of signal?" Lena asks, looking up to Kara.

"Just, I don't know, just squeeze my hand three times!"

"Why three?"

"It's a signal, let's go home," Kara demonstrates to Lena as she squeezes Lena's hands at every word.  _ Let’s. Go. Home. _

"You mean your home, mine still has a hole in the middle of my floor," Lena replies back worriedly as she glances up to look at the hole.

"It's your home too for the next three months."

Home. It feels weird hearing Kara calling her apartment their home but somehow it just feels so right. It has felt like home for a while and Lena was scared to admit that. Living with Kara is the closest thing she feels at having a family, and that fact alone scares her. Even going to this charity event frightens her, but with Kara’s hand holding hers so tenderly, Lena finds the courage to stand up.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

\--

The red carpet was a breeze with Kara by her side. Kara recognizes some of the photographers and jokes around with them. 

“Get my good angle, Snapper!”

“Move aside, Danvers!”

They banter back and forth but most of the photographers just want the exclusive photo of Lena Luthor, finally making a public appearance after the Luthor trials. After the red carpet, Kara checks in with Lena, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, that wasn’t so bad. At least it wasn’t reporters asking questions. Sorry,” Lena apologizes after she realizes who she’s talking to but Kara just laughs it off.

\--

“You know how silent auctions work, right?”

“Yeah, the auctioneer has to yell quietly,” Kara jokes.

“Idiot,” Lena laughs softly, trying to control herself in public.

“One hundred dollar bid, now two, two, will ya give me two? You, with the glasses. Two hundred dollar bid, do I hear a three?” Kara starts to imitate an exaggerated version of an auctioneer but does it so softly that only Lena could hear her.

Lena slaps Kara’s arms and tries to stifle a laugh, “Stop! That’s so dumb!”

“Oooh, there’s your ex,” Kara points to Jack, “do you wanna go over and say hi?”

“No, he’s busy,” Lena looks over and sees Jack talking to other guests, “maybe later.”

When other people start approaching Lena to exchange greetings, Kara stealthy leaves her to give her the space, but not before whispering in her ear, “Remember, if you need to leave, just come find me and give me the signal.”

\--

People were nice to Lena. A bit too fake nice. Everyone’s making conversation and avoiding talking about the trials. Lena gets tired putting up a front that she can’t remember why she agreed to come to this charity event in the first place. While Lena tries to act cordial with everyone who greets her, her eyes scan the event area for her roommate. Just like Lena assumed, Kara is there at the open bar so Lena takes a seat at a table nearby so she can have Kara in her view. 

Kara is talking to a short haired brunette, laughing and lightly touching each other’s arms. Lena doesn’t know why but she gets annoyed looking at them having fun while she downs another glass of whiskey. Lena realized she should have talked about logistics with Kara. If Kara brings the girl home, Lena is thinking where she should crash tonight. Maybe she should text Eve now and see if there's a place for her. Or maybe Kara will go to that girl's place instead. Lena is staring at them intensely as she figures this all out in her head.  _ Idiot. Selfish idiot who is only here for free drinks and to find someone to sleep with _ , Lena thinks to herself. Lena has half the mind to storm there and squeezes Kara's hands three times. And now she's angry because their signal is so stupid and requires them to be near each other. They should have decided on a signal that can be done from a distance like a wave or a wink or a—

"Lena."

A familiar voice interrupts Lena's thoughts, and an even familiar presence blocks the view of Kara and her quite possibly future non-girlfriend.

"Jack."

“I’m glad you came. Sorry, I saw you earlier but-”

“You’re the host. I understand. Thank you for the invite.”

“Anyone here?” Jack gestures to the empty seat opposite Lena.

“No, please,” Lena taps the empty seat asking Jack to sit down, “how’s everyone?”

“Good. Same as always. I heard you’re working for Obsidian now.”

“Yeah, Andrea offered me a job after everything. I’m thankful she did.”

“Lena,” Jack pauses and looks at her sadly, “I’m sorry I didn’t reach out after…”

“No, Jack. You don’t have to explain yourself. I understand.”

“That’s why I invited you. I’m glad you came.”

“Thanks for the invitation. It’s a lovely cause.”

“How are you?”

“As good as I can be for someone who is shunned by the city,” Lena laughs a little, trying to lighten the heavy topic.

“I saw the article. By, what’s her name...” Jack closes his eyes and tries to remember.

“Kara Danvers. She’s here. She’s my… she’s my date tonight,” Lena wanted to say roommate but she didn’t want to get into a long background story with Jack by using that word.

“Your date? Interesting,” Jack raises his eyebrows.

_ Help. Maybe date is the wrong word as well. _

“I mean, we’re not dating just… she’s accompanying me as a friend,” Lena says, hoping there’s no more follow up from Jack.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I have a proposition for you,” Jack goes off and Lena is glad he did. At Lena’s lack of reply Jack continues, “I want you to work for me. For Spheerical Industries.” 

“Oh, Jack. You don’t have to…”

“Lena, you are way overqualified to be working as a junior research engineer under Andrea. She doesn’t know your talent. I want you to lead my research team. I’ll pay you twice, no thrice more than what you’re getting now.”

“I don’t know how Andrea would feel about you poaching me under her nose.” Lena smiles nervously.

“Oh, she’ll be very pissed. But if I can have you on my team, then let me handle Andrea,” Jack smiles back smugly. 

“She gave me a chance when no one else would. I owe it to her,” Lena tries to justify, to Jack and herself.

“And I’m giving you a better chance.”

“Miss Luthor, care for a dance?” Kara’s hand comes in between Lena and Jack, as she gives a knowing look to Lena, eyeing for Lena to accept her hand.

“Let me know, Lena. You have my number,” Jack stands up and excuses himself, sensing that he’s interrupting a moment, “thanks again for coming.”

In a blur, Kara pulls Lena up and brings her over to the dance floor. There, she takes the lead and places her hand on Lena’s hips, so Lena places hers on Kara’s shoulder.

“You're welcome,” Kara grins once Jack is out of sight and they’re swaying slowly to the music.

“For what?”

“I saw you needed rescuing, so I swooped in. Lucky you brought me along, right?” Kara praises herself.

“For your information, I didn't need rescuing. I was perfectly fine.”

“You look troubled.”

“I’m not,” Lena stops and corrects herself, “fine, I was a bit troubled.”

“What did he want with you? You want me to beat him up for you?”

“Calm down, Hercules. Jack offered me a job, he wants me to manage his whole research team.”

“That's great!” 

“But Andrea offered me my current job when no one would hire me.”

“Then stay in your current job.”

“But working with Jack gives me a promotion and a higher salary.”

“Then go work with Jack.”

“But leaving Andrea feels like I’m betraying her.”

“Then stay with Andrea.”

“You are so helpful," Lena gives a small laugh as she lays her forehead on Kara's shoulder. 

“I know, right?”

Lena raises her head again and looks at Kara directly, “What do you think I should do?”

“I think you should do whatever you want to do," Kara answers truthfully.

“I want to know what you think.”

“Well, I think you're someone who thrives in whatever situation people put you in. So, it doesn't matter if you stay with your current job, or take up on Jack's offer. I'm positive you'll do your best anywhere.”

At Kara's honest reply, Lena smiles softly, “Thanks.”

“For the worst pep talk ever?” Kara smiles back.

“The absolute worst," Lena lets out a quick laugh. It wasn’t really. It was exactly what she needed to hear.

They continue dancing together even when the song changes. Lena notices how Kara doesn't look down at her feet anymore while she dances.

“You’re getting really good at dancing.”

“I had a great teacher.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Watch this," Kara says and proceeds to push Lena back slightly that Lena almost loses her balance.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Lena shouts but remembers where she's at when she realizes people are staring at her and shouts again, this time in a whisper, " _ What was that _ ??"

Kara just gives Lena an innocent look, “I’m trying to dip you.”

“That’s not how you dip! You almost broke my back! Don’t tell me you tried this with Sam?”

"Okay, drama queen. I didn't almost break your back, you barely dropped. And no, I didn't try it with Sam. I was trying some new moves.”

“Try one that doesn’t involve your partner to fall.”

"Fine, I won't dip you. Do you have any moves I could try? These box steps are getting boring," Kara frowns.

"Umm… you can twirl me around if you want," Lena answers after a few seconds of thinking. Twirling is harmless, even a beginner can handle that.

When Kara's face starts beaming, Lena realizes even a simple twirl could go wrong in the hands of Kara Danvers so she gives a quick tutorial. 

"I'll move, you just hold my hand above my head, okay? Gently!"

"Yes, teacher."

Lena guides Kara's hands above her head as she twirls underneath it and quickly embraces her dancing partner in their usual position after the twirl.

"Again!" Kara exclaims excitedly and raises her hand again while Lena just humors her and twirls again happily.

"One more time," this time Kara asks with a giggle. Learning a new dance move makes her inexplicably happy.

Lena can't help but to twirl again seeing Kara's smile, “Last one. You’re making me dizzy.”

At her third twirl, she sees the girl Kara was talking to earlier at the open bar leaving the event.

"That girl is leaving," Lena points out to Kara.

"Who?"

"The one you're talking to at the bar."

"So?"

"I thought you're going home with her?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Isn't your main purpose of coming here is to score with someone?"

"No, my main purpose is to abuse the open bar. Which I did."

"Poor open bar," Lena smiles.

"Besides, I already know which girl I'm going home with tonight."

At Kara's reply, Lena was taken aback. But she quickly composes herself, "Oh, really? Which one?" Lena asks as she looks around for a possible candidate.

"You, silly," Kara answers with a laugh when she sees Lena searching with her eyes.

"What?" Lena blinks her eyes quickly, unsure if she heard correctly.

"We live together?" Kara answers and creases her eyebrows, she wonders why Lena is acting so strange.

"Right. Lucky me."

They continue dancing until the third song, where Lena holds Kara's hand and squeezes it three times. Without a word, Kara grabs Lena's arms and they walk out of the event together to go back home. 

Their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i think this is one of my weaker chapters lol that was such a weak tie-in to the prompt word. tried to make it extra sweet to make up for it :)


	14. Midvale

"Luthor, you want to come back to Midvale with me? Midvale Food Fair is next weekend," Kara asks as they were lounging in bed.

"Oh my God, Midvale Food Fair. I remember going as a kid."

"So, join me. Alex has been bugging me to bring her Little Lee back to Midvale."

At the mention of her childhood nickname, Lena gives a soft smile, "I don't want to intrude."

"You won't. We have a guest room, you can stay there. I'll drive Saturday morning, and we can go back Sunday night. You won't even need a day off from work."

"Drive? In your car?" Lena asks skeptically, there’s no way she would trust that scrap of metal to bring them all the way to Midvale.

"It's fine, it's just a 3 hours drive."

"We barely survived half an hour yesterday! It's making noise, the air conditioner is not working, and how are you going to drive on Sunday  _ night _ when one of the headlights is broken?" Lena panics and Kara just brushes her off.

"I'll get it fixed in Midvale, it's cheaper there."

"We can use the money from the repair fund, if you really need it," Lena offers.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Kara teases as she scooches closer to Lena.

“What do you mean?” Lena asks warily and inches away from Kara just a little bit.

“Using the repair fund money means you get to stay here longer. Just admit you’ll miss me,” Kara grins that stupid grin of hers that annoys Lena to no end.

“Fine. Then don’t. Use your own money for the repairs. Also, if anything, you’re the one who will be missing me more, Miss-I-Have-To-Hug-My-Roommate-To-Sleep.”

“But you’re so huggable,” Kara jumps on Lena and hugs her. Lena struggles at first, but slowly lets Kara hold her close.

"Come, Little Lee, tell me you'll join me for the Midvale Food Fair," Kara says in barely a whisper, as she gives Lena a quick squeeze.

"Do they still have that fish fingers and custard food? Right by the entrance?"

"Fish custard? Every year."

"Okay, I'll come."

"Yes!” Kara lets go of the hug and fist pump the air, then turns to look at Lena, “Also, fish custard? You?"

"My mom used to buy them for me every year. It's… it's been a while," Lena replies with a sad smile.

"We can visit your mom too once we're there."

"That'll be nice. Thank you."

\--

“Road trip, here we go!”

Kara starts the car and drives. When it makes the usual screeching sound, Kara blasts the radio up and sings along to every song. Lena doesn’t know which one is more impressive, that the car is actually moving, or the fact that Kara knows the words to every song. After a while, the car stops making a sound and Kara smiles, “See? It’s just moody. You need to treat it right,” she says as she rubs the steering wheel, as if the car has feelings.

Lena just shakes her head at her roommate’s antics and closes her eyes. The air-con is still broken so the windows are down, and the breeze makes Lena sleepy. Kara takes a peek at Lena and when she realizes Lena is falling asleep, she turns the radio down and stops singing out loud as she continues driving.

Lena wakes up to the sound of the engine sputtering and Kara shouting curses, "No, no, no, no, no. Shit! Shit! We're almost there! Come on, car!"

"And you said this car can survive the drive," Lena says as she rubs her eyes.

The car died right in front of the ‘Welcome to Midvale’ signboard and Kara just points at it, “It brought us to Midvale at least?”

Lena gives a disapproving look to Kara, the same look Lena gave her that one time Kara tries to blend a smoothie but forgot to put on the lid before starting the blender. That evening was spent with Lena crossing her arms while Kara stood on the kitchen island wiping away the mess on the ceiling. But this time it’s a mess she can’t wipe away that easily. Kara takes out her phone and searches for a number.

“Are you calling for Alex?”

“Even better,” Kara winks and presses the dial while she waits for someone to answer, “hey Kelly, how’s my favorite mechanic?”

\--

“Jeez Kara, when was your last service?” Kelly takes a look at Kara’s car after towing it to her workshop. 

Lena has her head in her hand as she listen to Kelly listing out the damages, “You need a new timing belt, need to replace the oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, I suspect the brake pads as well, the coolant, I also suggest you change your tires, there's a—”

“Just give me a number, Kelly,” Kara’s face grimaces as she listens.

“$600 give or take. And I need to order a few parts, I can get it here by Monday morning.”

“$600? Holy sh- And Monday? My roommate has to work on Monday,” Kara looks over apologetically at Lena.

“It's okay, I can take an emergency leave,” Lena says and asks Kelly, “How long will the repairs take?”

“Hopefully I can get it all done by Monday afternoon.”

“Give us a moment, Kel,” Kara grabs Lena's arms and drags her away, “Hey, I know I said I didn't need—”

“Already done. I will set aside the money for the repairs.”

“Thanks, I'll pay you back.”

“Let's just split it. I use your car often too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, $300 each. That's just three extra weeks of me staying with you, can you handle that?”

Kara just smiles widely at Lena’s response. Somehow, she finds it funny how they manage to extend Lena’s stay more and more each time. Maybe, at this rate, it’s quite possible she’s stuck with Lena forever.

“Why are you smiling?” Lena asks when she sees Kara grinning from ear to ear.

“This is just part of your ploy, isn't it?” Kara chuckles and shakes her head.

“Yes, your car breaking down is part of my ploy to make myself stay longer with you. That's totally it,” Lena answers sarcastically in a deadpan voice.

“It’s because you didn’t believe in the car, Luthor, so it gave up.”

“Cars don’t have feelings.”

“Shhh, don’t let it hear you say that!” 

“Idiot.”

At the affectionate way Lena calls her an idiot, Kara smiles again. She shouts over to Kelly, “Go ahead with the repairs, Kel! And can you send us back home?”

Kelly gives a thumbs up and starts making a few calls.

\--

“Mom! Alex!” Kara calls out once she enters the house.

“Oh, sweetie. I missed you,” Eliza runs from the kitchen to hug and kiss Kara. When she sees Lena behind Kara, she gives her a hug too.

“And you must be Little Lee. Oh, how you've grown. You don't remember me, do you?”

“I'm sorry, I don't remember much about my Midvale days,” Lena apologizes.

“Little Lee!” Alex yells from upstairs and jumps down the stairs a few steps at a time, and hugs Lena when she reaches her.

“Excuse me? Where’s my hug?” Kara demands one from Alex.

“You’ll get your hug when you explain to me why I saw Kelly dropping you off,” Alex scolds Kara.

“My car broke down so we’ll be staying here an extra night, mom. Kelly said she needs to wait for a few parts that will only come on Monday,” Kara ignores Alex and explains it all to her adoptive mom.

“You’re more than welcome to stay, sweetie. Little Lee can stay in your room.”

“My room? What happened to the guest room?”

Kara quickly runs up the stairs and Lena is unsure if she should be following her. Alex follows soon after so Lena stays downstairs with Eliza until she hears Kara yelling and arguing with Alex. Eliza just smiles like this is an everyday occurrence in the Danvers household. She grabs Lena’s arms gently, “Welcome back to Midvale, dear. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“You turned the guest room into a gym?! ALEX!!” Kara shouts at the only person she knows who is responsible for this in this house.

“I need to do my workouts.”

“You're a preschool teacher!”

“So? I need my stamina to keep up with those kids.”

“Where’s Lena gonna sleep?”

“Calm down. Mom already put out an air mattress in your room.”

“You expect her to sleep on an air mattress?”

“No,  _ you _ sleep on the air mattress, dumbass. She's a guest. She gets your bed.”

Their argument is interrupted by a loud clearing of a throat. Lena stands sheepishly behind the two sisters, “I can sleep on the air mattress. It’s fine.”

“No, you get the bed,” Alex insists and shows Lena the way to Kara’s bedroom. 

Kara joins in the bedroom and shouts to Alex before she slams the door, “What time do we leave?”

“At 3!”

When both Kara and Lena settle down in Kara’s bedroom, Lena notices how small it is. It’s just a small single bed, with an air mattress laid out by the side, giving not much space to walk around.

“Sorry, I feel like I’m intruding,” Lena apologizes. Between the car breaking down, standing awkwardly between squabbling siblings, and having Kara sleeping on an air mattress, Lena can’t help but feel like she’s the cause of this.

“Hey, what? No, that’s just how we talk. Don’t you ever talk like that with Lex?”

“Not like that,” Lena gives a small laugh.

“It’s healthy, you should try it sometimes. It’s cathartic.”

“It looked intense.”

“She knows I love her. Oh, we usually skip lunch on food fair day, but do you want to go grab something to eat? We leave at 3.”

Lena takes a look at her phone, “We still have an hour. It’s fine. Maybe I’ll just lie down.”

“I’ll come get you later, let me know if you need anything,” Kara pats Lena’s legs as she gets up from the air mattress.

“Okay.”

\--

“How’s the fish custard?”

“Disgusting,” Lena laughs as she holds a cup of custard, with three pieces of fish fingers dipped in it. She wonders if she ever truly liked it when she was a kid.

“Here, try some.”

“I like fish fingers, I like custard, but I draw the line at both at the same time.”

“Try it!” Lena forces Kara to try as she chases her down.

“No!”

“Little Lee, wanna get this?” Alex calls for Lena as she points to the peaches and cream nachos.

“That looks so good,” Kara claims out loud, “let’s try that one.”

“Peaches and nachos?” Lena asks out loud, questioning the combination of the two foods.

“Fish fingers and custards?” Alex and Kara say at the same time as they point to Lena’s food and the three of them laugh together.

While they wait for their weird nachos, Eliza stands by Lena and looks over at her kids affectionately, “I love when they’re together. Makes the house lively again.”

“Thank you for having me, Eliza. This is nice.”

“When was the last time you came over for the food fair?”

“‘1992, or probably ‘91. I can’t remember. I left in ‘92.”

“Your mom was nice, she would always give an extra bun to Alex.”

“She did?” Lena smiles fondly, it’s rare to hear stories about her mom.

“You’re visiting her tomorrow?”

“Yeah, Kara said she’ll bring me to the cemetery in the morning.”

“And how is Kara in the city? I heard you’re staying with her. I hope she’s not too much trouble.”

“Not at all. She’s been… she’s a good roommate.”

“You don't think she's a bit childish?”

Lena laughs when Eliza herself points it out, “She can be. I know others would see that as a negative side but I think she's brave enough to give credence to her childishness. I admire that.”

When Eliza gives a knowing smile to Lena she continues, “I'm probably generalizing, but for people like us, who had our childhood taken away and for it to be overshadowed by such a tragedy, I think it gives comfort to her to act like such a child.” 

“I've never thought about it that way. But you’re not like that?” Eliza asks, as she notices Lena is much more mature than Kara.

“I think she’s slowly bringing that side of me out,” Lena replies with a smile. 

“Mom, try this! It is unexpectedly good!” Alex runs over to them with a plate of peaches, nachos and whipped cream concoction.

Kara walks over to Lena with the same plate just like Alex’s, “Try it, Luthor.”

“Only if you try my fish custard,” Lena smirks.

Kara shakes her head but concedes as she opens her mouth and closes her eyes, so Lena places a fish finger heavily dipped in custard into her mouth.

“Your turn,” Kara says after she finished chewing.

“Nope!” Lena sticks out her tongue and runs away, “thanks for finishing my fish custard!”

“Luthor!!” Kara chases Lena down the food fair while Alex and Eliza laugh at them.

\--

“Oh my God, I’m so full,” Kara says as she rubs her stomach while she lays down on the couch.

“I don’t think I could eat anything ever again,” Alex joins her as she lays downs on the floor.

Lena comes out from the kitchen with a tray, “Your mom made chamomile tea,” she says as she places the tray on the coffee table next to the couch.

Eliza joins them in the living room and sits on her lazy chair. Lena looks around for a place to sit, and finds it hard when there’s Kara sprawled on the couch, and Alex on the floor.

“Danvers, move,” Lena calls Kara out but all three Danvers girls look at Lena.

“Kara Danvers,” Lena clears up the air, “get up, Kara.”

Kara sits on the couch properly and makes some room for Lena. Lena pours tea for everyone and passes a cup to Kara.

“No, I think I’ll puke.”

"I'll pass too," Alex joins Kara.

Lena takes the cup for herself and sips slowly as they quietly watch the TV, only the sound of an old sitcom show accompanying them. Kara slowly leans on Lena and places her head on Lena’s shoulders. There it is again. Lena’s self-consciousness hits her hard, especially so when they’re in Kara’s home, with Eliza and Alex in the same room. But no one blinks an eye at the gesture, no one else was weirded out by it. Eliza even looks over fondly and gives a smile to Lena so she smiles back. Maybe this is normal. Maybe this is what a family should feel like.

Alex groans as she gets up from the floor, “I think I’ll have that tea now.”

As Lena pours her a cup Alex grabs a few photo albums and gives it to Lena, “Here, go wild. I think there’s a few embarrassing Kara photos in there so you can make fun of her later.”

“Hey,” Kara counters back, her head still on Lena’s shoulder.

As Lena browses through the album, she marvels at the amount of photos Kara has from her childhood. All Lena had when she got adopted by the Luthors was the annual family portrait. Posed. Cold. Distant. Looking through this album fills her with warmth and happiness.

“Kara,” Lena asks with her first name so that there’s no confusion in the house, “What's the story behind this picture?”

Kara lifts her head up from Lena’s shoulders and takes a look, “Oh, I got second place in the spelling bee.”

“Is that why you’re crying?” 

“She’s crying because  _ I _ was the one that got first place,” Alex says out loud.

“You’re older, dumbass!”

“Kara, language,” Eliza scolds her and Alex just laughs back at Kara quietly.

Lena continues browsing the photo album. Once in a while, asking Kara for background stories, and smiles softly when it’s a funny picture of Kara. She almost wanted to ask Eliza if she can keep this one photo of Kara where she’s hanging upside down from a tree trunk, because it was too cute.

“Oh look, it’s the food fair,” Lena points out to another set of photos.

“Midvale Food Fair ‘92. That’s my first food fair,” Kara says.

“‘92? I think that’s the last one I went with my mom.”

“You think we bumped into each other that day?”

“I doubt it.”

As Lena browses more pictures of the food fair, her eyes lay still on one photo. It was a picture of Kara standing in front of an ice cream truck, holding a rainbow colored ice cream. As she looks closely at the photo, Lena notices something but Alex was the one who points it out first, “Little Lee, isn’t that you in the back?”

And true enough, right behind Kara, is Lena having a cup of fish custard… with her mother standing beside her. 

Lena sat still, as still as one could on the couch, as her fingers hover over the photo. 

It was an actual photo of her mother. Tall and beautiful. Suddenly every memory Lena has of her has a face, and tears start forming in her eyes.

“Luthor, she looks just like you,” Kara points out.

Knowing how significant this photo is for Lena, Kara takes it out of the photo album and asks Eliza, “Mom, can Lena keep this photo?”

“Of course.”

“Here. Now you have a photo of your mom,” Kara smiles as she gives the photo to Lena, who is now silently crying as tears fall down her cheeks.

\--

“Are you okay?” Kara asks Lena from the air mattress. She could hear Lena sobbing, even if she's trying to hide it.

“I’m sorry, I just never thought I could see her again,” Lena apologizes for waking Kara up.

Kara climbs onto the small single bed and tries to calm Lena down as she cuddles her. It's a bit snug, but Kara manages anyway as she rubs Lena's arms up and down tenderly.

“Don’t be sorry. Maybe it was fate that brought you here to find that photo.”

“Fate, huh?”

“Or destiny, I don’t know the difference.”

Kara brushes Lena's hair away from her face as she sings a lullaby, the same lullaby that calmed Lena's nerves last time.

_ Do, do, l’enfant do, _

_ L’enfant dormira bien vite. _

_ Do, do, l’enfant do, _

_ L’enfant dormira bientôt. _

At Kara’s singing, Lena slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep. When she wakes up the next morning, Kara is already back on the air mattress on the floor. She finds herself staring at Kara who is soundly sleeping and wonders to herself what made her meet Kara. Was it destiny or fate?

\--

“Do you remember where it is?” Kara asks.

“Yeah, right by the oak tree,” Lena pulls Kara’s hand as she guides her to her mother’s graveyard.

“When was the last time you visited?”

“Right before the trials. It’s been more than a year.”

When they reached the plot, Lena’s hands were still holding Kara’s, as they just stood there looking over the graveyard. Kara grips Lena’s hand tighter, and could feel the ring on her index finger, as it’s always been there, the ring her mother left her. 

“Do you want to say something?” she turns around to Lena and asks her.

“Like, out loud?” Lena gives her a puzzled look.

“Yeah.”

“That's so stupid. We're not in some cheesy Hallmark's movie.”

“Just try it.”

“No.”

Kara continues standing there awkwardly, wondering if Lena is saying something to her mom, maybe deep inside her heart.

“Hi, mom,” Lena says out of the blue that takes Kara by surprise.

“Sorry I haven't come since the trials. It's been… everything's so… this is stupid. Let's go back,” Lena gets embarrassed and tries to walk away but Kara pulls her back.

“No, no. I'll leave and give you some privacy. Go talk to your mom,” Kara lets go of Lena’s hand and pats her shoulder, “I'll be by that tree, okay?”

Kara stands idly by the old oak tree as she waits for Lena, sometimes she’ll take a peek and she can see that Lena is actually talking and saying things out loud. Not loud enough for Kara to hear of course, but enough to make Kara smile thinking that Lena is doing what she suggested. 

When Lena meets up with Kara she grabs her hand and squeezes it three times.

So they walked back home, hand in hand, with not a word exchanged between them. It’s as if the silent communication is the only thing they need to understand each other, to know the meaning of losing a parent. Just the mere presence of each other’s company speaks more than a thousand words could.

\--

After lunch, Kara is resting on the couch while Lena hangs out in the kitchen to help Eliza.

"You can relax in the living room, I'll clean up."

"No, I want to help," Lena insists as she starts to wash all the plates in the sink.

"How was visiting your mother?" Eliza asks as she wipes the kitchen table.

"It was nice. It's been awhile. Kara was with me."

"That’s good,” Eliza smiles fondly, “Lena, remember what you said yesterday? When you said Kara brings out the child side of you?”

Lena looks at Eliza and nods.

“I think you have the same effect on her. She seems a bit more mature after knowing you."

"Kara? Mature?" Lena smiles as she takes a peek at her roommate who is fully lying down on the couch.

"You disagree?"

Lena thinks back on the past few weeks. How Kara calms her nerves when she's anxious. How Kara always checks in with her to see that she's okay. How Kara guided her to open up to her mom at the cemetery.

"Maybe you're right."

\--

"Are you trying to butter up to my mom?" Kara teases Lena when she joins her in the living room.

"I was being helpful! Something you should try once in a while," Lena rebukes as she takes a seat next to Kara on the couch.

"But I’m back home, I feel so lazy when I’m here,” Kara grins and continues, “thanks for helping by the way.”

She grabs Lena's arm and lays her chin on her shoulder, turning Lena into a makeshift pillow. Lena turns on the TV with her other arm and relaxes her head on Kara.

"Question."

"Yeah?"

"You didn't visit your parents just now? At the cemetery?"

"They're not there. I'm originally from Smallville."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"You didn't ask the right questions."

"Okay, fair. Do you go visit them?"

"Well, it's been a few years. But I do, sometimes."

"If you want to, I can come along. You know, as thanks for today."

"I'd love that."

"Next question. Do you have pictures of your parents?"

"No. Fire, remember? Everything burnt down with the house."

"Right. Sorry."

When Lena stops asking questions, Kara looks up to find Lena staring at her with a depressed look. 

Kara musters up a smile, "I don't mean to make you sad. It's fine, it was a long time ago."

"No, but… it's just you found a picture of my mom. Plus, you followed me to visit her. I feel like you're doing so much to help me and I can't help back in return."

"You don't need to, I'm happy to do it."

"I really want to return the favor. Okay, tell me, is there anything you want right now? I'll do it."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

Kara stares at Lena's determined face and wonders if she would really do anything she demands right now. Knowing Lena, she probably would. Kara could request something as a joke like 'go pull a prank on Alex' and Lena would probably think Kara is being serious and would actually go do it. Maybe she could push Lena even further and asks for a kiss, just to see if Lena would kiss her. Not that Kara really wants a kiss, at least she doesn't think she does, she just wants to see if Lena would actually do anything right now.

But Kara didn't ask for a kiss, she also didn't ask for Lena to pull a prank on Alex, instead she asked for something she really needed in the moment.

"A hug would be nice."

"Just a hug?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

"Of course it is!" Lena replies happily and gives Kara the tightest hug a human could possibly ever give.

The hug was perfect.

\--

“If you don’t like this one, I think Alex has some extra pajamas you can borrow,” Kara gives Lena an old pajamas of hers, since they have to stay an extra night and Lena didn’t bring enough clothes.

“Dinosaurs? Cute,” Lena points out.

“It was a phase,” Kara tries to brush it off with a wave of a hand, “go change. I’ll be downstairs.”

As Lena walks downstairs after freshening up, Alex squeals, “The dino PJs? You really let her borrow that one? That’s your favorite! You never let me wear them!”

“Shut up, Alex!” Kara yells as she throws a small cushion at Alex’s head.

Alex was about to throw the cushion back but Eliza grabs it from Alex’s hand and gently places it on the couch. Then, she takes a cup of tea and gives it to Lena, “Here you go, dear.”

“Thanks, Eliza.”

“So what time will you be leaving tomorrow?” Eliza asks Kara.

“Kelly said she’ll try to finish up by 4. I plan to leave before the night falls. Lena has to work on Tuesday.”

“Okay, I’ll wake you up tomorrow to say goodbye, okay?”

“Okay, mom.”

“And I will drive you to the workshop,” Alex smiles widely.

“Just admit you want to meet Kelly,” Kara rolls her eyes.

“Duh. That’s my only reason. Why would I say goodbye to you?”

“You know, you have had a crush on her since the 8th grade, go and ask her out already!”

“Shut up, Kara!”

“Kara. Alex,” Eliza scolds them while she sips on her tea.

Kara gives Alex the finger when Eliza wasn’t looking and Alex gives the finger right back while Lena just chuckles quietly at their antics.

\--

“Kara,” Lena calls Kara’s name out in the darkness and takes a peek at the figure on the air mattress below her, “I’m glad I came here. It seriously meant a lot. Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” Kara smiles even though she knows Lena can’t see her.

"Can't believe we technically have a picture together as kids, right?" Lena says referring to the photo of Kara, with Lena and her mom in the background.

“Hey, just imagine, if you stayed, or if I get adopted earlier, we could have become childhood best friends.”

Lena laughs softly into the night, “I doubt we would be best friends.”

“Enemies?”

“I don’t think us as kids would have any animosity between each other.”

“Roommates, then.”

“Yes, little me would definitely be roommates with little you.”

After they exchange a few quiet laughs, stillness falls between them.

“Good night, Lena.”

Kara has been starting to use Lena’s first name when Lena started to use hers in this household. Lena has always thought of Kara as the closest thing she has to a best friend, there’s nobody else in the world that knows so much about her except for Kara. So, it’s funny how even the use of first names has somehow brought them even closer together than Lena thought it possibly could. 

“Good night, Kara.”

\--

"Kar, you and Lena, sure there's nothing going on?" Alex asks when she sees Lena talking to Kelly, settling the repair bills, "Look, she even handles your financials," Alex laughs.

"We're not dating if that's what you're trying to imply," Kara protests.

"Oh, you're definitely not dating. You're practically married," Alex laughs even harder at Kara's obliviousness.

"What? That's the dumbest thing you've ever said. And you've said a lot of dumb stuff."

"You hold hands when you walk, you sleep next to each other every night, you talk before bed and bid each other good nights, you're like an old married couple at an old folks home! The only thing missing is feeding each other soup or something."

When Kara's face changes at the mention of feeding each other, Alex laughs yet again, "OH. MY. GOD. You have fed each other soup??"

"It was ice! But that's besides the point. We're not an old married couple!"

"Tell me I'm wrong!"

"You're dumb."

"I'm not wrong though," Alex smiles.

"Kara, keys with me," Lena calls out and waves the car keys.

"Coming!"

"Your wife is calling for you," Alex shoves Kara's shoulders gently and laughs again.

Kara didn’t say anything back but just gives Alex an annoyed look. 

When Lena starts the car, Alex taps Kara’s shoulders to make her turn around, "Come back again soon, dumbass. I love you."

"I love you too," Kara says as she hugs Alex goodbye.

Alex and Lena exchange hugs as well before Kara sits in the driver’s seat and gives her thanks to Kelly. When Kara's car leaves the workshop, Alex comes over and drapes her arms over Kelly.

"Did they figure out that we're together?" Kelly asks.

"Baby, they haven't figured out if  _ they're _ together, let alone us."

\--

"What do you want for dinner?" Lena asks as she browses the menu on her phone. They're still half an hour away from National City.

"Anything," Kara answers. 

"I'm thinking of something light. How about soup?"

"NO SOUP!" Kara yells out loud.

"Jeez, what do you have against soup? Fine, no soup for you."

“Anything but soup,” Kara groans. She really hates Alex for putting that idea in her head right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on a personal note, this is my fav chapter i wrote so far


	15. kale

Kara is having a bad day. Lena knows this because it's really really obvious. 

Since she came back from work yesterday, Kara has barely said a word to her. They didn’t do their daily night talk because Kara just said a simple good night and went straight to bed. This morning, Kara slept in instead of watching her Saturday morning cartoons. And now, Kara is furiously writing then crumbling up the papers to throw it away after every page.

Kara Danvers is having a bad day and Lena doesn't know what to do.

Lena doesn’t think of herself as the best candidate to comfort other people but she finds it important to cheer Kara up. After all, that’s what roommates are for, right? So, Lena does what every other person would do when they don't know what they're doing.

She asks Google.

Lena sits in her area of the kitchen island as she quietly watches Kara doing her work. She types in 'cheap ways to cheer up your roommate' in her phone and reads the top article on the first page.

**Number one: Help them with chores.**

Easy enough, Lena does most of the chores anyway. Although, Kara does have to take out the trash today. Lena quietly ties up the trash and tiptoes out the apartment to throw it away, not daring to make any loud noises or sudden movements. When she comes back to their apartment, she ticks that step mentally in her head. Done. She looks back again at Kara. Seems like she didn’t notice the gesture at all.  _ Well, that didn’t work. _

**Number two: Walk it off.**

Lena looks up again and sees Kara still furiously writing. She wonders why her roommate is fuming, probably her editor gave her a new assignment. She knows Kara always writes down her words before she types it down. So it definitely must be a new article. Maybe a walk around the block would cool her off. But it's been radio silence between them since last night and Lena is afraid to say the first word.  _ Let's circle back to number 2 later. _

**Number three: Make them tea.**

Tea. That's simple. Lena can do tea. She moves carefully in the kitchen so that she doesn't make a lot of noise and starts to boil some water. When the tea is ready, she places it near Kara without saying a word and mentally ticks the step as completed. Kara is tapping the pencil on her forehead as she stares at the blank paper. Lena just watches as her tea turns cold under her stare.  _ Tea didn't work. _

**Number four: Send them memes.**

Lena googles the word ‘memes’. Seems like a bunch of funny pictures with words on them. That seems easy. Lena found one that made her laugh so she sends a picture of a cat holding onto a tree branch with the words 'hang in there' to Kara.  _ Tick. Meme sent. _ Kara’s notification comes in but she doesn’t even check her phone.  _ Memes are stupid _ , Lena thought.

**Number five: Slip a note of affirmation.**

Lena looks around the apartment for a small piece of paper and when she finally finds one she sits down thinking what is the best thing to write. Lena settles on something and writes down ' _ best roommate ever _ '. She folds it into two and slides the handwritten note to Kara. The note was ignored.  _ Stupid note _ .

**Number six: Practice Yoga together.**

Lena wonders how she can even ask Kara to join her if they’re not talking. Maybe she should start first. Lena changes into her workout clothes and takes out her yoga mat and places it in Kara’s view. Lena does the downward dog hoping Kara would join her. She doesn’t. Although, there were a few times she caught Kara staring at her, but quickly averts her gaze when Lena notices. Is Kara checking her out?  _ Impossible.  _

**Number seven: Cook them a meal.**

It’s almost lunch anyway, maybe Lena should make something. She opens the fridge to see what she could make. She can make a salad.  _ No, Kara wouldn’t eat that _ . Lena looks back at her roommate and wonders if she should ask her what she wants but Kara still looks like she’s in a bad mood. Lena finds some bacon and starts to fry some. She takes out the lettuce and tomatoes and makes Kara a BLT sandwich. Lena added extra lettuce at first, but decides to take it out and adds some extra bacon instead.  _ Just this time _ . Lena slowly places the BLT near Kara without saying a word while she sits down on the opposite end to eat her own BLT, hers with extra vegetables of course. When Kara takes a bite, Lena smiles brightly, and mentally ticks the step in her head.  _ It works! _ But her smile quickly dies down when that was all Kara did. Just a bite. Now Lena is determined more than ever to cheer Kara up.

**Number eight: Build a blanket fort.**

Lena googles ‘how to build a blanket fort’. They only have two blankets in this apartment. But Lena takes them anyway and prop them up on the couch, she even takes the few pillows they have. The fort is small, not much you could build with two pillows, a bolster and two blankets. Lena crawls under the fort and finds it a bit cramped, she wonders if it could even fit in two person. After a minute, the fort falls due to lack of support.  _ Forts are stupid. _

**Number nine: Make them laugh.**

This is hard. Usually it’s Kara who makes Lena laugh. Lena tries to remember the times she made Kara laugh instead. There was the one time she referred to the kiwi fruit as New Zealanders and Kara found that funny. Lena takes a few small papers and draws the New Zealand flag on them. Then, she sticks them on a toothpick to make them look like little flags. She takes out two kiwis from the fridge and sticks the toothpick in. They look like tiny furry chocolate balls waving flags and Lena has to stop herself from laughing. She carries both fruits and shows Kara, but Kara just looks at her with a creasing brow and continues writing.  _ Stupid kiwis. _

**Number ten: Weed.**

_Next._ _Or perhaps? No, next._

**Number eleven: Watch a movie with them.**

Lena walks over to the living room and turns on the TV to find a movie when Kara suddenly speaks up, "Sorry Lena, can you turn down the volume? I'm working."

_ No movie, then. But Kara said something!  _

Lena thought that this is the perfect time to go back to number 2 and invite Kara out for a walk.

"Do you want to join me for a walk? I'm going out."

"No, thanks."

Lena gets shut down quickly. Now what? Lena hastily grabs her phone and sees the last step.

**Number twelve: Make or buy them a surprise treat.**

_ A surprise treat?  _ Lena wonders to herself what actually constitute a surprise treat but gets ready for a walk anyway without Kara joining her. Maybe walking down the block will give her ideas on what she could make or buy.

After an hour, Lena comes back with a white box and places it on the kitchen island. 

Kara is still sitting in the same position she was when Lena left but looks up and asks, “What’s that?”

“A surprise treat for you,” Lena says gleefully.

“For me?”

“Open it.”

Kara walks over to the white box and slowly opens it, while planting a curious look on her roommate. When she opens the box, it’s some sort of salad or lettuce or whatever those green leaves that Lena likes to eat. 

“It’s kale!” Lena exclaims.

“Um, okay,” Kara closes the box but Lena grabs her arm, “No, no, you have to cut it.”

“I have to what?”

“Cut it!” Lena blurts out while she goes and fetches a knife.

When she gives the knife to Kara, Kara just shrugs, “Okay.... I’m cutting…. the kale…” she says slowly as she eyes her roommate, who is staring at her with a wide smile, so wide that makes Kara think that Lena has lost her mind.

When Kara cuts the kale, it went through easily and Kara was shocked to find out what the kale actually was.

“It’s a cake! Surprise!”

Then Lena goes off into a tangent and starts talking really fast, “The article says I need to get you a surprise treat. So I was walking, and I saw a shop that said ‘Cake Canaveral’. You know? Like ‘Cape Canaveral’! And I was like ‘Ha, that’s funny’ so I went in and they sell all these real life items but when you cut into it, guess what? It’s all cake! Like they sell these toilet rolls and you cut into it, it’s actually cake! Like real cake! The lady there showed me an example and cut into soap. And it was... you guessed it! Cake! So I wanted to buy a newspaper or a pen because you know, you! But they didn’t have one. They did have this kale so I thought, you hate vegetables. So if you think this vegetable is a cake... That’s a surprise, right? So, surprise!”

Kara didn’t say anything back but just stares at Lena as she tells her cake story. Only when Lena stops, Kara sighs and responds with a deadpan face, “You want to cut my hand and see if it’s cake?”

“Don’t joke like that, that’s not funny.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’m not in the mood today. I’m stressed out with work.”

“I know. I’m sorry you’re feeling down.”

“Thanks for trying to cheer me up.”

“Did it work?”

“No, but it’s not your fault. I’m just having a lousy day. Again, sorry. You can leave me alone,” Kara shakes her head and goes back to sit in her chair.

Lena slowly walks over and touches Kara’s forearm, concerned about her roommate, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s boring, and I don’t want to bother you with my problems.”

“No, tell me,” Lena drags Kara to the couch and makes her tell Lena about her day at work. It was stuff that doesn’t concern her, some office politics and bureaucracy that Lena can’t fully comprehend, but she listens anyway. She listens as Kara tells her what happened at work yesterday, and she listens when Kara tells the story on why her editor yelled at everyone and how she only has two days till her next deadline. Lena still listens as Kara talks about her writing process, and how two days is too short to do any research on the topic. After Kara’s rant, they spend the afternoon eating their kale cake, and Lena leaves Kara alone to finish her work. 

That night, as they get ready for bed, Kara asks Lena a question, “Was the yoga part of the cheering up or did you just decide to do yoga?”

“It was part of the steps, although we were supposed to do it together. Why?”

“Nothing,” Kara replies with her head down but Lena swears she could see a hint of a smile, “Also, steps? What did you do? Googled how to cheer up your roommate?”

When Lena gets shy at the accurate accusation Kara just gives her a quick hug, “You’re too cute, do you know that? Where’s your phone? Let me see these steps of yours.”

“No, it’s embarrassing!”

“As the person who needs some cheering up, can’t you at least show me some of the steps?”

“Fine,” Lena grabs her phone and clicks on the article again. 

“So, the first one is to help you with chores.”

“You do most of the chores anyway.”

“Exactly what I thought! Thank you! I still helped you throw out the trash this morning by the way. You're welcome,” Lena says with a smug look.

“Then, there’s a bunch like go out for a walk, make you tea, cook some food, send memes, build a fort, write a note, what?” Lena stops when she sees Kara is staring at her.

“Nothing. I just feel happy,” Kara’s face lit up with a smile.

“But none of that cheered you up,” Lena looks at Kara in confusion.

“The fact that you did all that makes me happy,” Kara’s smile was even brighter and Lena feels like all the hard work to cheer up her roommate today paid off when she sees that smile.

"And I'm really sorry about today. Usually I'll go through it alone. I never had someone else around when I wallow in my misery," Kara laughs a little, hoping her laughter can make light of the situation. Instead, Lena looks at her dead in the eyes and with a serious tone, "You don't have to go through it alone anymore. I'm here. And it's perfectly fine to be sad sometimes, you don't have to put up a front with me."

"I'll turn off the lights," Kara announced as Lena was already in bed. Last in bed has to turn off the lights, one of their house rules. Plus, she feels like crying after Lena's thoughtful words so she wants it be dark as soon as possible because she feels vulnerable if Lena could see her tears right now.

“Good night, Lena. Thanks for today,” Kara tries to mask the quiver in her voice as best as she can and bids Lena their usual good nights as she slides into bed.

“Good night, Kara.”

As Lena continues browsing the article, she notices it has a last step that she missed. When she reads the last step she just smiles and ticks it mentally in her head.

"Something funny?" Kara asks when she sees Lena smiling looking at her phone, the bright lights illuminating her face.

"Just a stupid meme."

Lena reads back the final step on ‘how to cheer your roommate’ before she turns off her phone.

**Number thirteen: If all else fails, just be there for them.**


	16. water

“Why did I agree to this again?” Lena grunts as she helps Kara carry a heavy wooden treasure chest with iron fittings in the middle of National City’s largest shopping mall.

“It’s a clearance sale! You have to buy something at a clearance sale!” Kara grins from ear to ear while she’s also struggling with carrying the chest.

“I need to sit,” Lena says, “why is this mall so huge?”

“Okay, okay, let’s sit by the water fountain,” Kara points with her mouth to the water fountain that’s only a few steps ahead of them.

The indoor water fountain was round and large, and there were already a few shoppers leaning on it and relaxing. The marbled statue of a fish in the middle of the fountain is also spouting some water from its mouth. After carefully placing the chest on the floor, Lena takes a seat on the ledge and notices a boy tossing a coin into the water fountain. Then, she sees Kara rummaging her pockets.

“Lena, do you have coins?”

“What are you going to do? Make a wish?”

“Duh, it’s a fountain. You have to make a wish!”

“I don’t know if I have any…” Lena opens her handbag and starts looking. She knows she doesn’t have any in her wallet but maybe there’s some loose change in the bottom of the bag so she keeps digging.

“Do you think if I take some of the coins out of the fountain, I can reuse it for my wish?” Kara asks as she dips her hand into the water but gets slapped away by Lena immediately.

“Don’t! That’s bad luck! Also morally questionable, not to mention, probably illegal?”

“Really? Taking a few coins from the fountain is illegal?”

“Isn’t it technically stealing?”

Kara looks at Lena with a mischievous smile as she dips her hand playfully into the waters again and Lena slaps it even harder.

“Stop! I’ll find you your coins!” she scolds with a laugh and continues to look for coins.

Kara takes a seat next to her roommate and taps the wooden chest, “Can you believe this baby is just 20 bucks?”

“I can’t believe I’m carrying this  _ baby _ of yours just because you don't want to pay the delivery fee,” Lena shakes her head.

“The delivery alone costs more than the chest! It’s insane, that’s how they get you.”

“Why do you even need a treasure chest anyway?”

“It goes with the aesthetic of the apartment.”

Lena stops searching for loose change and stares at Kara, “What aesthetic? The apartment is a hodgepodge of modern furniture and antiques. If anything, your only aesthetic is confusing.”

“Hence, the chest. What’s more confusing than having a random treasure chest in the middle of the living room?”

Lena just laughs lightly at how Kara always has to answer back everything. Even her reasoning is ridiculous. She finally finds two coins and gives to Kara, “A penny and a quarter, here you go.”

Kara takes the penny, winks at Lena and tosses it into the fountain.

“What did you wish for?” Lena asks, still holding out the other coin.

“Can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” Kara replies with a teasing smile.

“You still have a quarter,” Lena points out to the other coin that’s still in her palm, “make another wish.”

“That’s for you. Your turn.”

“I don’t have any wishes.”

“Just think of something you want. But you cannot wish for more wishes! And don’t wish for something big like the end of all wars or something.”

“I can’t wish for world peace? Really?”

“It has to be small and reasonable. Then, it’ll easily come true. That’s how I got all my wishes to come true,” Kara smiles and Lena just looks at her roommate with amusement. Of course Kara Danvers have rules with fountain wishes.

“What were your wishes before this? The ones that came true?” Lena wasn’t sure what defines a small and reasonable wish.

“Well, there was that one time I lost my favorite t-shirt and made a wish to find it, the next day Alex came down wearing the t-shirt. It was in her closet the entire time! And another was when I wished to win a trophy at the spelling bee, and I did! You saw the picture.”

“You won second place.”

“Because I didn’t  _ specify _ first place, I just said I wanted a trophy. You see, you got to be specific.”

“Right. Small, reasonable, and specific. Got it.”

“And don’t tell me or it won’t come true.”

“Okay.”

Lena stands up, closes her eyes and makes a wish before she tosses the coin into the fountain. When she opens them back up, she can see the ripple effect in the waters where her coin landed. Lena glances at Kara who is now content with how Lena followed her wish instructions.

“Shall we?” Kara asks as she gives a few taps to the wooden chest, signaling for Lena to carry it.

“Let’s go home.”

\--

“This is amazing, Kara! I'm so proud of you!” 

Lena reads over again the formal invitation letter. Kara is one of the journalists being honored at the 6th SGCW Awards for their excellence in journalism, specifically for Kara’s slave trade article she worked hard at for the past few months.

“ _ The prestigious award recognizes outstanding journalists whose high standards for integrity, accuracy and contributions to the city have brought light to truth, tolerance and justice for all.  _ You’re outstanding! It says so in the letter!”

“Okay, enough. You’re inflating my ego,” Kara laughs as she takes back the letter from Lena’s hands, “I’m showing you this because I want to bring you to the awards ceremony. Do you want to come along?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you contributed too, with your help in Kaznia. I couldn’t have finished the article without you.”

“All I did was to translate. You did the interviews, the writings, and the research…”

“Lena,” Kara stops her, “just say you’ll come. Please.”

“If you want me to.”

“I want you to.”

“Okay then! Oh, I can wear that dress again!” Lena exclaims excitedly and goes over to her box of clothes to take out the dress.

“Not now! The ceremony is this weekend,” Kara shouts as she sees Lena ironing out the wrinkles with her hands.

“I know, idiot! I just want to take it out and prepare,” Lena takes a clothes hanger and hangs the dress by the window, “are you buying a new dress?”

“Nah, I’ll just wear something old. I’m broke,” Kara replies.

“That’s because you spent your money on a treasure chest, and then more money to buy things to fill up that treasure chest! I swear, Kara, one day this apartment will be filled with so many pointless items. I mean, did you even really need that tennis racket? You don’t play tennis!” Lena tells Kara off for her financial decision, or the lack of it.

“I might! What if I need to do research on the corruption scandals of the rich and famous at the clubhouse? The tennis racket is the perfect disguise to have as I sneak in to play tennis and find myself a source,” Kara argues.

“How do you have an answer for everything?” Lena just smiles and laughs.

Kara smiles back and gazes at Lena. When Lena sees Kara’s face, she points out something, “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“You’re looking at me and smiling. What’s up with you?”

“I can’t smile now?” Kara laughs lightly, “Smiling at you is a crime?”

“It’s disconcerting. Like you’re planning a prank or something. Oh God, is this award thing a prank? Kara Danvers!” Lena jumps into bed and slaps Kara on her arms.

“It’s real! I swear the award thing is real!” Kara laughs and grabs Lena’s hands to stop her, they stare at each other for a few moments before Kara lets go and breaks it apart.

Kara clears her throat before she continues, “I don’t do this for the awards, but it’s nice to get some recognition. Plus, I get to bring my roommate along and share the night with her.”

“You know you could bring one of your non-girlfriends, right? It’s not like you can’t find a date.”

“They didn’t help me with my article. You did. Just think of this as a thank you present, okay?”

Lena nods and lies down while Kara is still sitting up on the bed, resting her back on the headboard. 

“Kara, is this what you wished for? To win the award?” Lena looks up to Kara and asks.

“From the water fountain the other day? No, this is not my fountain wish.”

“Really? Not even this? I wonder what you wished for.”

“I can't tell you or it won't come true!!”

“Well, mine is—”

“STOP! Don’t tell me! La la la la~” Kara sticks her fingers up her ears so that she can’t hear what Lena is saying.

Lena grabs Kara’s hands to bring it down, “You're being a bit too superstitious with this fountain wish.” 

“If all your fountain wishes have come true, wouldn't you be?”

“Just tell me already.”

“No.”

“Tell me!” Lena’s hand crawls up to Kara’s side and she starts tickling her.

“Quit it! You know I’m ticklish!” Kara laughs as she tries to grab a hold of Lena’s hand to stop her.

“Okay, fine. Don’t tell me. You really want this wish to come true, huh?”

“I would love it if it comes true,” Kara says with a smirk.

“How about this? If I guess it, it doesn’t count as you telling me, right?” Lena asks as she rolls over and props herself on her elbows, her feet gently tapping on the bed.

“Fine,” Kara relents, “BUT you only get three guesses.”

“Can you give me hints?” 

“No hints.”

“Ugh, you’re killing me,” Lena sighs, “Did you wish for that triple patty burger, no, that peanut butter ice cream, I mean something in the… sustenance category?”

Kara laughs because of how broad Lena’s guess is, “Sustenance? Really? You’re cheating. But no, my wish is not food related. Two more guesses.”

“Does it have to do with work? Like, you’ll get a good article or a promotion or for your editor to yell less at you?”

“No, it’s not work related. One more guess and then I’m going to bed.”

“It’s not food… it’s not about work… it’s not about me, is it?” Lena chuckles but Kara stays quiet as Lena keeps guessing.

“Did you wish, oh I know! You wished to win the lottery!” Lena grins as she thinks she finally figured it out. Everyone would want to wish to win money, especially Kara who is broke right now.

“Keep it small and reasonable, remember? Lottery is too big and uncertain. Since you lost, go and turn off the lights,” Kara says as she takes the blanket to cover herself and quickly goes to sleep.

“This is so not fair, I was in bed first,” Lena grumbles as she gets up to turn off the lights.

When she gets back to bed, she whispers to Kara, “Hey, when the wish comes true, you could tell me then, right? It doesn’t break any rule?”

“Yeah, if it comes true, I’ll tell you.”

“Okay then, I’ll wait till it comes true.”

“Good night, Lena.”

“Good night, Kara.”

\--

Every time something good happens to Kara, Lena would pester her and asks if that was her wish. A colleague gave Kara a souvenir from his travels and Lena would ask. Kara finds a dollar in the middle of the street and Lena would ask. Kara catches a ball that almost hit her head at the park and Lena would ask.

“I will tell you if it comes true.”

“Promise?”

Kara nods and still Lena would ask again. Kara couldn’t wait for her wish to come true so that she could finally tell Lena what it is.

\--

“Are your eyes closed?” Lena yells out.

“They have been for the past 5 minutes, just show me already!” Kara yells back.

Kara just got back from work and Lena says she got her a present and insists for her eyes to be closed when she shows her. So now, Kara is on the couch, waiting for Lena to bring the present over to her, whatever it is.

“Okay, open them!”

Lena is holding up a dress, the sleeveless purple high neck midi dress that Kara tried in Sam’s shop a few weeks back to be exact. The dress that Kara didn’t buy because she spent the money to secretly help Lena to buy her a dress instead.

“Surprise!”

“Isn’t that the dress I tried? You bought it?”

“When you said you’ll be wearing an old dress to the ceremony, I just had to get you this! So I called up Sam to check if it was still available. So, here! It’s your present from me for being an outstanding journalist!”

Kara can’t help but to imagine what Sam must be thinking during all this. She knows Kara helped pay for Lena’s dress and now Lena buys her one as well. Kara prepares herself for the teasings to come the next time she meets Sam. If she doesn’t think they’re dating before, she will now.

“This dress is almost a hundred bucks, wasn’t it? You shouldn't have.”

“You deserve it! Oh, wait. Was this your wish by the way?”

“No, and stop guessing,” Kara shakes her head and smiles, “I’ll tell you when it comes true.”

“Anyway, now you have a new dress for tomorrow!”

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

After a moment of silence, Lena looks at Kara straight into her eyes and says, “You’re doing that thing with the creepy smile again.”

“Oh, now my smile is creepy?” Kara laughs, if only to stop herself from staring at Lena and smile again. She doesn’t know herself why she does that lately. It’s like every time she sees Lena she inadvertently smiles. 

“How did you afford this anyway?” Kara asks as she picks up the dress to have a proper look at it.

“Well, I don’t know how to tell you this but… my wish came true,” Lena chuckles nervously.

“What? Why didn’t you start with that! Forget the dress!” Kara throws her new dress over the couch and grabs Lena’s hands to pull her down to sit with her, “tell me everything.”

“I don’t want to tell you now, tomorrow’s your award and all… I want this to be your weekend,” she hesitates, twisting her fingers nervously.

“No, I want to know now. This should be my present!” Kara exclaims, as she gently holds Lena’s hands to calm her down and stop her fidgeting, signaling that it’s okay.

“You know how Jack offered me that manager position with a higher pay? But I didn’t want to leave Andrea?”

“Yes, yes,” Kara gestures for Lena to get on with the story.

“Well, anyway, I didn’t know if it’s small or reasonable but I wished I didn’t have to leave Andrea but still get that higher pay. That was my wish.”

“Does that mean?”

“I came clean to Andrea about Jack and told her I’m interested to take on more responsibilities, if she would have me. Then, she offered me the position of Team Leader! It’s not much, but it’s still a promotion. And I don’t have to feel bad about leaving Andrea,” Lena grins as she gives Kara her news.

“That’s amazing!” Kara wraps Lena in a tight hug to congratulate her, “I told you fountain wishes works! I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks! That’s why I could afford the dress! And I know we supposedly have 10 more weeks of staying together but I’m getting a raise so I can afford the repairs with my next salary. I’ll be out of your hair in 2 weeks, 3 weeks tops. I’ve already made calls to the contractors, and put down the deposit for the repairs, so we—”

“Wait, you’re leaving in 2 weeks?” Kara stops Lena before she could continue.

“3 weeks tops!” Lena replies with a bright smile but Kara didn’t reciprocate the same sentiment. Not this time.

“And I know I said we’ll split the repairs, but I’m totally fine to pick up whatever balance we have, it doesn't have to be 50/50.”

“No, I’ll pay my part.”

“Like I said, I’m fine with paying—”

“Just let me pay my part, Lena! We agreed on a 50/50 split, right?”

Kara didn’t mean to lash out. It’s like her brain is malfunctioning trying to process the information that Lena is leaving the apartment in 3 weeks time. Everything is moving so fast and Kara is just trying to make sense of everything. She quickly calms herself down, “It’s just, that’s the deal, right? So let me pay my part.”

“Okay.”

The atmosphere turned heavy in an instant and Kara wasn't sure if it was because of the news or because of how she feels at that very moment. Lena continues talking but all Kara can hear are just sounds, because nothing made sense anymore. Lena is leaving in a few weeks.

Three important realizations hit Kara that day. 

One, Kara realizes that she's quick to lose her temper when she is sprung with unwelcome news, a trait that she hates about herself. She vows to think before she speaks next time, and not to lash out that often. She also knows that her face is easy to read, so she forces a calm expression on herself as Lena continues telling her story.

Two, Kara realizes the reason she smiles a lot while staring at Lena is because Lena makes her happy. Like, larger than life happy. The kind of happiness that when you see someone and they literally put a smile on your face. Kara finds herself caring about Lena more than any other friend she knows in her life. The way Lena makes sure she eats healthily, how Lena is genuinely delighted when good things happen to Kara, and how Lena cares for her back. Everything about Lena makes her feel like smiling from ear to ear. And now the reason for her smile is leaving her. 

Three, Kara realizes that she could never tell Lena what her wish was because it didn’t come true. Lena didn’t end up staying longer than she had to. 

That day was also the day Kara Danvers stopped believing in fountain wishes. 


	17. beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the hurt yesterday (and probably today and for the next… 3 chapters lol) i promise it’ll be worth it

“She’s leaving in 2 weeks!”

“Hello to you too,” Sam gestures for Kara to come into her house after the sudden greeting.

“She’s leaving in 2 weeks,” Kara repeats as she sits heavily on Sam’s couch and leans her head back.

“Don’t you have an awards ceremony to go to tonight? With your  _ roommate _ ?” Sam asks with emphasis on the word roommate to insinuate that there’s something else.

“I don’t have time for this, she’s leaving in 2 weeks,” Kara waves that word away, already tired of denying her relationship with Lena to Sam.

“I heard the first two times,” Sam plops down on the couch next to Kara, “so why are you here?”

“Because she’s leaving in 2 weeks?”

“So? Wasn’t that always the deal?”

“No! The deal was she stays for 10 more weeks, or maybe longer, I don’t know. The deal was she stays with me until we get the money for the repairs.”

“And now she does,” Sam says with a subtle shrug, “she told me she can pay for everything after her promotion so I don’t know why you’re so distraught.”

“Because the deal is it’s a 50/50 split. And I’m someone who honors deals,” Kara fights back.

“So are you going to honor the deal and pay for everything because it sounds like you’re falling for her,” Sam says with an annoyed tone.

Kara sits up on the couch to look Sam in the eyes, “I’m not falling for her.”

“Oh yeah, you’re totally not,” Sam says as she sits up as well to face Kara, “you’re already head over heels in love with her.”

“Just stop. We don’t have that kind of relationship. We’re friends.”

“Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have feelings for Lena?”

Kara looks Sam in the eyes and without blinking she says, “I don’t have feelings for Lena Luthor.”

“How are you this deep in denial?” Sam laughs loudly while shaking her head.

“I care for her, sure, but as a roommate. Nothing more. I’m not even sleeping with her.”

“Maybe you should. Bang it out of your system, you know?”

“Don’t talk about Lena that way, she’s not that kind of girl.”

“See, it’s things like this that makes people think you’re in love with her! Why are you so quick to defend her?” Sam points out.

Kara scoffs, “She’s a friend. If someone talks shit about you, I’ll defend you as well!”

“You do realize I’m not just teasing you, right? I think she likes you too.”

“What?” Kara paused, she has never even entertained the thought of Lena liking her.

“And I’m not just saying this because you two bought dresses for each other. Although, that was hilarious,” Sam laughs a little and continues, “do you notice how comfortable she is around you? Remember at first how she’s so distant and cold with us? And now she’s hugging and holding your hands, you make her feel secure and happy.”

“That’s how I act with everyone. It’s nothing special,” Kara denies it and Sam rebukes, “yes, but it’s not how  _ she _ acts with everyone. She’s only like that with you.”

“So what? Of course she’s comfortable around me, I’m her roommate, we know everything about each other.”

“Who was the first person you told about your award?”

“Lena. But that was because I wanted to invite her to come along!”

“You’ve never invited any of us to go back to Midvale with you,” Sam points out, referring to Kara’s other non-girlfriends.

“She’s  _ from _ Midvale! Plus, Alex really wanted to see her.”

“You two refer to your apartment as your home. Come on, Kara,” Sam says with an exasperated sigh because Kara can’t seem to get her point.

“We live together! It is her home!”

“You spend every hour of the day together, even when you’re outside the house. Every time I hang out with you, Lena’s there. Even when she’s not, all you do is talk about her. Hell, we’re talking about her right now! And your face practically lights up whenever she’s around. Even a blind person could see that you like her!” Sam shouts out loud, then groans and rubs her temple, her friend’s obliviousness is really bothering her, “Tell me why we stopped sleeping together, Kara Danvers.”

“I told you, I’m busy. Plus, there’s Lena at home.”

“Stop giving excuses, you could always sleep over here. Tell me the real reason.”

When Kara stays silent, Sam continues, “After Lena moves, then what? Do we continue what we did before?”

“I just… I don’t feel like doing this anymore,” Kara gestures frantically back and forth to her and Sam, “There, are you satisfied with that answer?”

“I will be when you realize  _ why _ you don’t feel like doing this anymore,” Sam mimics Kara’s gesture and continues, “it’s because you don’t want to hurt Lena’s feelings. Because you care for her.  _ More _ than just a roommate. And it won’t be long before she stops seeing you as just her roommate too,” Sam finishes her point and rests back on the couch, but not before she gives Kara her final say in the matter, “Honestly, you two idiots are made for each other with the way the both of you keep denying your feelings.”

\--

"Ready?" Lena asks Kara who is resting on the couch. At the sound of Lena's voice, Kara turns around to look at her. It's weird, she's seen Lena in this dress before, but somehow, every time, it takes her breath away.

_ It won’t be long before she stops seeing you as just her roommate. _

Sam's words play in Kara's mind on repeat ever since she mentioned it. Kara shakes her head lightly, as if the motion can shake out the words out of her head as well.

"The dress looks so good on you!" Lena squeals when Kara stands up.

"Brings out my best feature, right?" Kara says as she flexes her arms and Lena just laughs and smiles at the gesture.

"Let's go, outstanding journalist. Tonight's your night," Lena holds out her hand to Kara.

Kara smiles, reaches out, and takes Lena's hand as they head out of their home for the awards ceremony.

\--

"Kara Danvers, for 'Slavery in the modern world; and how we can end it'."

"Woo!" Lena shouts a bit too loud as she records a video of Kara walking up on stage to receive a medal. She's not usually this loud, especially in public like this, but she is so proud of Kara she couldn't care less.

When Kara joins Lena again she jumps up and down like a little kid, "Let me see, let me see."

Kara smiles as she shows Lena her medal and Lena's eyes turn wider as a proud smile creeps up her face.

"Excellence in journalism," Lena reads the engraving on the medal out loud, "that's so amazing."

"I have to bring you to every awards ceremony I attend from now on. You're such a great cheerleader."

"I'll bring my pom-poms for the next one," Lena jokes and proceeds to laugh at her own joke.

Kara laughs along, not sure at the idea of Lena with pom-poms or the endearing nature of laughing at her own joke, but she laughs along. Suddenly, the thought of Lena leaving hits her again and Kara hates it when it happens.

"What's wrong?" Lena asks when she sees the smile on Kara's face slowly fades.

"Nothing."

\--

“What’s up? You’ve been acting strange the whole night,” Lena asks again after dinner when she joins Kara at the balcony. The awards ceremony takes place at one of the skyscrapers in National City, and the balcony gives a full view of the city. Kara just stares at one of the satellite towers, concentrating on the blinking red light at the very top. 

“Can I tell you something?” Kara asks Lena while still staring at the blinking light.

Lena looks at Kara and replies, “Of course,”

“I don’t think I’m taking the news of you leaving very well. It’s been bugging me ever since you told me.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell. Especially not after you lashed out at me yesterday and insisted on paying your half of the repair cost,” Lena replies with a hint of snark in her tone and Kara turns around to face her. Of course she could tell how Kara is feeling right now.

“I’m sorry. I know I get emotional really quickly. I don't process sudden news very well, I'm trying to change that.”

“What else is new? That’s why I didn’t want to tell you yesterday. I wanted to wait until after this ceremony.”

“How can you even tell?” Kara laughs lightly. Is she that easy to read?

“Remember when you found out the guest room at your house turned into a gym? You literally  _ yelled _ at Alex. Or the day I fell. Remember? You were livid when you heard the news about splitting up the cost. And the fact that I have to stay with you made you furious.”

Kara smiles at the memory. It seems so long ago. If only she could go back in time and berate past Kara for being so short tempered at what seems now like the best thing that could have ever happened to her.

“It’s fine, it’s the Virgo in you. You get easily irritated,” Lena smiles.

“Really? You believe in zodiac signs?”

“Some of it can be accurate…”

“And what else that is accurate about me because I’m a Virgo?”

“People gravitate towards you, you’re trustworthy, funny,” Lena pauses, “among other traits.”

“And how about you? Miss... Scorpio?” Kara tries to remember which zodiac sign people who are born on Halloween belong to.

“Cold. Distant. Doesn’t always make the best first impression,” Lena shrugs. 

“You might have a point. I still remember the first day I saw you,” Kara ponders, remembering the first time she laid eyes on her roommate.

“At the court? During the first trial, right?” Lena tries to remember it herself. Kara had called her office asking for an interview before, and right before the article was published she had heard of Kara’s name. But they never really meet face to face until the court case.

“No, that was the day you first saw me. I saw you way before.”

“What? When?”

“Right after you rejected my interview, I sneaked into Luthor Corp’s launch event.”

“You what?” Lena raises her voice slightly and quickly calms down, “Is it the solar battery launch event?”

“Yeah, that one. You were standing right next to Lex during the presentation.”

“Okay, stalker.”

Kara laughs a little and continues, “You look so arrogant and stand off-ish, and I think that image stayed with me right until you fell into my apartment.”

“Like I said, I don’t make the best first impression.”

“You don’t make the best second impression too. And the third. And the fourth,” Kara jokes, quirking her brow.

“Idiot,” Lena smiles, she finds that Kara’s jests always seem to be able to lift the heavy atmosphere.

“But what are your good traits?”

“I don’t think Scorpios has any.”

“Nah," Kara objects, "I think Scorpios are sweeter than what people assumed. They’re caring, sensitive, and loyal to a fault. They also make great cheerleaders with their tiny pom-poms,” Kara jokes as she lifts Lena’s hands and motions them as if Lena is holding out real pom-poms.

“Stop it. This is so stupid,” Lena laughs heartily.

As Kara laughs along, and suddenly she gets reminded yet again that Lena is leaving. Kara wonders if they ever get a chance to laugh without reservation like this again.

“I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time in the beginning. If it makes it any better, I’m really sad you’re leaving. So, I guess I'm the stupid one now, right?”

“That’s not stupid. I really think of you as one of my closest friends now.”

“Me too. Look at us,” Kara smiles.

“Who would have guessed Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor could become roommates,” Lena smiles back.

“From roommates to the best of friends.”

“We could really surprise people if one day we became lovers,” Lena laughs as she says it.

“Ha, funny,” Kara replies back quickly with a laugh herself.

Kara knows that Lena was making a joke. She knows this because Lena always laughs at her own jokes. But there was a moment, a quick tiny second, where Kara entertains the notion. Has she really fallen for Lena? That quick tiny second turns to minutes as Kara finds herself staring again at Lena, looking at her differently for the first time.

“I’m sad that I’m leaving too,” Lena breaks the silence and Kara could see a hint of tears that are threatening to fall from her eyes, “we’ll stay friends, right?”

“What are you talking about? Of course we’ll still be friends. I’m not cordial with you just because we’re roommates!”

“Good. Because I don’t think I could handle being hated by you again,” Lena laughs a little.

“I didn’t hate you,” Kara refutes. 

“Oh, you  _ hated _ me,” Lena laughs even louder now, “with the way you treated me, you thought I was the devil reincarnate.”

“In my defense, I thought you were like your family. I thought you were really evil.”

“Evil. Really? And now?”

“And now, you can be evil at times, but I’m used to it,” Kara gives a mischievous smirk.

“Would you say I grew on you?”

“More like you wore me down.”

“Idiot,” Lena smiles, “well, to be fair, I hated you too.”

“I wrote a takedown article that brought your families to jail and stripped you of all your money. If I were you, I would hate me too,” Kara defends Lena’s hatred towards her.

“Question.”

“Shoot.”

“If you knew me back then, and you found out what my family did, would you still publish your article?”

After a long silence, Kara finally gives Lena a reply, “I think I would. The city deserves to know the truth.”

“And that’s why you earn that medal tonight,” Lena replies with a sad smile, “I think that makes you who you are. So, don’t ever change. Don’t ever feel bad about that article, and what it did to me. It was my family who did that to me. Not you.”

Kara pulls Lena in for a tight hug that Lena immediately returns. She whispers into Lena's shoulder, “Also, if I knew you back then, I would tell you about it first. I would never go behind your back.”

“And if I tell you not to publish it? What would you do?” Lena whispers back.

“You wouldn’t. Because that’s who  _ you _ are.”

When fireworks start to fill the air, more people come out to the balcony to have a good look at the view and they break their hug. Kara grabs Lena’s hand and the both of them look up to marvel at the display of patterns illuminating the night sky.

“It’s beautiful,” Lena points out to one of the huge ones that blasts itself into tiny red fireworks, making a huge heart shaped pattern in the atmosphere.

Kara looks at Lena who is looking up to the sky, the heart shaped firework reflects back in Lena’s eyes as she looks at them.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”

Lena turns around to find Kara staring at her and shouts loudly, as the fireworks are making a lot of noise, “You’re not even looking at the view!”

Kara would argue that she was, but instead she smiles softly and turns her head around to look up again at the fireworks.

A lot of people had pointed it out. Eve has said it, Alex has said it, Lucy... hell, Sam had to shout for Kara to get it. But Kara didn't believe them. She couldn't see what they saw. 

But tonight. Tonight is the night she could actually feel it. 

When Lena told her she's leaving in two weeks, Kara feels a hurt she can't describe in her heart. It was a different hurt from the night her parents died. That hurt was like a punch; it was quick, it was guttural, it hurt her deeply.

This hurt, it starts slow. And it builds up. Just like how a realization slowly kicks in. Every smile Lena gives her could be their last one. Every touch, every grasp, every hold, Kara feels it with her entire being and she doesn't want to let go. This hurt was slow, excruciating, and consumed everything in her. Kara realizes she's hurting because she cares for Lena more than she would like to admit. More than just a roommate. Perhaps, more than just a friend.

Kara gently strokes her thumb on Lena’s hand as they continue watching the fireworks, hoping it would soothe the hurt she feels in her heart. It doesn’t.

When the fireworks are over, Lena turns to Kara and asks, "Two more weeks. Will you miss me?"

"Yeah, right. I'll miss you so much," Kara replies sarcastically even though she means every single word.


	18. garden

“So, they started on the repairs?” Sam asks Lena as she looks up through the hole.

“Tomorrow! That’s why I pushed all the furniture aside, in case of debris or dust or whatever,” Lena informs her.

Everyone’s at Kara’s apartment for Lena’s farewell party. Even though Lena insists she doesn’t need one, Kara decided to throw her one anyway. On one hand, she wanted to throw one last gathering, since tomorrow the contractors will start on their job and it’ll be noisy for the next whole week. On the other hand, Kara feels like she really needs to talk to Sam about what happened the other night at the awards ceremony.

“Sam, can I talk to you for a bit?” Kara calls out for her.

“Go, I think I’ll help Eve in the kitchen,” Lena smiles as she walks to the kitchen.

\--

“I mean, if he doesn’t appreciate what you do, then he’s not for you,” Eve tells Lucy.

“Are we talking about James again? Forget him, Lucy,” Lena informs her having heard the last bit.

“Already forgotten,” Lucy smiles, “Thanks for the party, Lena. Finally you’re moving out, right? It feels like it’s been forever that you’re here.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve been here forever as well,” Lena smiles as she looks over the whole apartment.

When she sees Eve about to do the dishes, she stops her, “Leave it, Eve. I’ll do the dishes.”

\--

“It was like, a moment, Sam. It was weird, yet felt nice at the same time.”

“For someone who sleeps around a lot, you're sure acting like a school girl with a crush,” Sam smirks.

“It's not a crush! Is it?”

“Honestly, this attitude from you is unappealing, so happy we’re not sleeping anymore,” Sam laughs, “but I’m glad you’re admitting that you have feelings for her now.”

“It’s not funny. She’s leaving next week. Plus, you’re the one putting ideas in my head about me and Lena. This is partly your fault.”

“My fault? You’re the one acting like she’s leaving for Afghanistan. She’s moving upstairs!”

“Emotionally, it feels like she’s moving to Afghanistan, okay?” 

“Just go tell her you like her already,” Sam rolls her eyes.

“What if I’m just feeling like this because she’s leaving? Maybe I don’t _really_ like her, maybe I’m just feeling sad because we won’t be able to spend much time together anymore.”

“I think you just need to knock one out of the system, to be honest.”

“I told you, I’m not sleeping with Lena.”

“And I’m telling you maybe you should. Just bang her out of your system already. And if you still like her then you know it’s for real.”

“I don't know, maybe you're right. Maybe I should just sleep with her. I mean, I don’t know if I… no, I can’t sleep with Lena,” Kara shakes her head at the idea. There’s no way Lena would agree to have sex with her.

“Are you attracted to her?” Sam asks.

“Have you seen her?” Kara raises her eyebrows and cocks her head sideways, pointing to Lena and Eve in the kitchen.

“Okay, fair.”

“You should have seen her do yoga,” Kara replies in a whisper as she reminisces and bites her lower lip.

“What?” Sam asks with a furrowed brow.

“Hm? Nothing.”

\--

“And Kara was so beautiful getting up on stage to get her award. Oh, I have the video on my phone, can you grab it?” Lena tells Eve about the ceremony while she washes the dishes. 

“Lena, have you told Kara?” Eve asks as she takes Lena’s phone on the kitchen island.

Lucy asks the both of them, “Told Kara about what?” 

“I want to plant a garden on her balcony,” Lena looks at Lucy worriedly, “I mean, she’s not doing anything with her balcony. Plus, I could use the extra space if she lets me.”

“I thought you’re moving back upstairs?” Lucy laughs lightly.

“Hence, the worry. Is it too much if I ask her that? I already have tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers on my balcony. Would love it if she lets me plant some herbs, maybe some rosemary, some cilantro or parsley. And add more vegetables like zucchini or something.”

“I thought you already have herbs on the rooftop garden?” Eve asks.

“It’s too much hassle to maintain that rooftop garden. Plus, people keep stealing my herbs. If I plant it here, no one can steal it.”

“True. I think as long as you’re the one taking care of the garden, she doesn’t care,” Eve answers on Kara’s behalf, “but tell her anyway. Soon. You know how she is with sudden news.”

“Yeah, she gets really riled up,” Lucy replies and the three girls just laugh because of how true it is.

\--

“I can’t just go up to her and ask her to sleep with me. Stop making this weird. And don’t tell her I said that! I don’t want to make her uncomfortable,” Kara scolds Sam for the suggestion.

“Maybe she wants to. You never know.”

“She doesn’t. I know.”

“How do you know?”

“She's a… just trust me. I know.”

“Sam, do you want to see pictures of Kara from the ceremony?” Eve calls out for Sam from the kitchen while she waves Lena’s phone.

“Sure!” Sam replies Eve but whispers to Kara, “Do you want me to ask her on your behalf?”

“I swear to God, Sam. If you mention this to Lena, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

\--

“The dress looks great on her,” Sam says as she looks through Lena’s phone.

Lucy grabs two bottles of beer from the fridge and nudges Lena lightly, “Do you want me to talk to Kara about it?”

“I’ll go talk to her later. Thanks for the offer, Lucy,” Lena says and Lucy walks over to Kara with the beers.

“Talk about what now?” Sam asks gleefully, a bit too gleeful, because Lena looks back at Sam with a puzzled look.

“I’m thinking of planting a garden on her balcony because she’s not doing anything with it,” Lena answers with a cringe face, knowing her idea sounds ridiculous because she’s moving back upstairs. 

Sam’s grin dies down at Lena’s answer, “Oh, just talk to her about it. I think as long as you’re the one taking care of the garden, she doesn’t care.”

“See! Exactly!” Eve’s face lights up when Sam gives the same answer.

\--

“How’s my favorite non-girlfriend?” Lucy asks Kara as she passes her a bottle of beer.

Kara accepts the beer and smiles when Lucy uses Lena’s term, “I hate that the term is catching on. What the hell is a non-girlfriend anyway?”

“I think, according to Lena, it’s everyone in this apartment right now,” Lucy points out to herself, and to Sam and Eve in the kitchen.

“If she really tries to gather all my non-girlfriends, they won’t fit in this apartment,” Kara teases with a raise of her eyebrows.

“Oh, don’t I know it.”

“Sorry about you and James.”

“It’s fine. Things didn’t work out. Are you free after Lena moves out? For old time’s sake?” 

“I think I’m done. Not just with you! I just… I just don’t feel like doing this anymore,” Kara gives a soft smile as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Gasp,” Lucy says with an exaggerated shocked gesture as she brings her hand to her chest, “Kara Danvers retiring her playgirl life? I need to tell everyone.”

Kara chuckles nervously as she takes more sip of her beer. 

“Oh, by the way, Lena wants to ask you for something. Don’t be too hard on her,” Lucy informs Kara.

“What?” Kara looks at Lucy with a quizzed look. Did Sam mention something?

“She’ll tell you soon. She’s been really troubled by this, so go easy on her,” Lucy gives Kara a smile in return but all Kara has are more questions.

\--

When everyone leaves the apartment, Lena slowly approaches Kara but hesitates before saying something. When Kara sees Lena fidgeting, she asks, “You want to ask me about something?”

“Right. Of course, you already know what this is about,” Lena replies and joins Kara on the couch. 

Kara, sensing how serious this is, grabs the remote control and lowers down the TV volume, just enough so that there is still some sort of ambience, but not entirely silent.

“Did Sam put you up to this?” Kara asks, while trying to tone down her anger. Sleeping with Lena was supposed to be a hypothetical situation, she never meant for Lena to feel uncomfortable like this.

“Well, I did talk to Sam about it, and with Eve and Lucy. And the three of them agreed that I should talk to you, sooner rather than later.”

“Eve and Lucy too? Jesus,” Kara cries out. Why are all three of her friends so hung up on her relationship with Lena? 

“Sorry, I don’t mean to get you riled up about the garden,” Lena replies back warily when she sees Kara getting irritated.

At the mention of the word garden, Kara gives a curious look to Lena. She knows Lena is shy when it comes to sex and would never refer to it directly. Is that what Lena wants to call it? Kara can’t believe why Lena always uses euphemisms when it comes to this stuff.

“Yeah, sure let’s talk about the _garden_.”

“So, you know what I’m talking about, regarding the garden,” Lena reiterates, and Kara hates how uncomfortable Lena is right now. She curses all her friends for putting her up to this.

“Lena, you don’t have to do this. You know Sam, Eve and Lucy are just putting pressure on you.”

“No, I’m the one that wants to do this.”

“Really?” Kara had never thought that Lena herself would be up for this. Maybe Sam was right after all.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to do it. I’m just throwing out the idea!” Lena says but Kara quickly replies, “No, I mean. If you’re okay, I’m not saying no.”

“I don’t plan on doing it now, maybe after I move out and settle back in my apartment.” 

“But there's a chance? That you’re planning for it?”

“Only if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m more than okay with it! Are you okay with it?” Kara just had to ask again to make sure Lena is really sure with this.

“Of course I’m okay, don’t worry, I’ll do everything! You don’t have to do a thing.”

 _Wait, what?_ Kara thinks this is so forward of Lena for someone who is afraid to even say the word sex.

“You don’t have to do _everything_. I know my way around a garden,” Kara says with a smirk.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll clean it, and trim it… I’ll handle everything,” Lena objects.

 _Trim?_ Now Kara is confused.

“You don’t have to trim… I don’t mind a bush,” Kara replies slowly, wondering where Lena is going with this. She knows Lena doesn’t have much experience in bed so Kara just wants Lena to be as comfortable as she can with her.

“Really? You don’t think a bush is messy?”

“I’m someone who can appreciate a good bush.”

“Are you sure? I’ve trimmed my own garden, I can help you trim yours as well.”

“Why do _you_ want to trim it? I’ll trim my own garden!” Kara scoffs, they’re good friends but not _that_ good.

“You want to split the garden into areas as well…?” Lena asks.

“Yeah! My garden is my garden, yours is yours,” Kara replies as she throws her hands up, like this is the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, Eve and Sam told me that as long as I help—”

“They told you that? Lena, they’re playing with you. Let’s just… take care of our own gardens,” Kara gets a bit more irritated now thinking what other bullshit her non-girlfriends told Lena. It’s one thing to put this idea in her mind, it’s another to mess with Lena. 

“Okay… yeah, sure. If that’s what you want. We still need to keep the area clean. I found some chemicals online that I can buy.”

“Chemicals? Don’t use chemicals. That’s bad for you, just use water,” Kara reminds her, venturing into talks about their nether regions is making Kara surprisingly uncomfortable, especially talking about cleaning it. She never has this much discussion about their private parts before she has sex with someone.

“Just water?” 

“Yeah, too much chemicals disrupts the balance or something.”

“Really? Just water is enough? Won’t the bugs get to it?”

“The bugs? What? Do you have bugs in your garden??” Kara asks as she looks at Lena in a different light. If she was attracted to Lena before, she’s definitely having second thoughts now.

“I mean, I don’t. That’s because I use the chemicals to keep the bugs away.”

“Trust me. Just water. Bugs won’t go near your… garden. And can we stop with the cleaning talk? Lena, I’ve seen a lot of gardens in my life. It’s fine,” Kara reassures her, wondering if it’s because of Lena’s inexperience that is making her think too much on her upkeeping. 

“Well, seeing a lot of gardens is different than taking care of one,” Lena says with a doubtful tone.

“I, myself have a garden, Lena. Trust me, I know how to take care of it,” Kara replies back smugly.

“How come I’ve never seen your garden?” Lena looks around the apartment and Kara wonders why she’s looking around like that.

“I- I didn’t know you have an interest in seeing my garden.” Kara replies back cautiously, she’s still in disbelief that Lena is interested to sleep with her.

“If you wanna show it, I would love to see it,” Lena replies with a smile.

“Really? You’re interested in my garden?”

“Only if you wanna show it.”

“Do you just wanna see it? What else do you want to do with my garden?” venturing into dirty talk with Lena gives Kara a thrill she never knew she could have. Of course, she’s done dirtier talks than this before, plus they’re still using euphemisms but Kara thinks that this is as dirty as it could get with Lena. 

“We could… plant?”

“Plant? Is that what we’re calling it now?’ Kara leans in closer with a mischievous look on her face.

“What do you want to call it?” Lena asks back confusingly.

“No, no, we can call it whatever. So, you want to _plant_ in my _garden_?” Kara says with a teasing smile.

“Yeah, you need someone to plant something, or else what’s the use of the garden?”

“True, but,” Kara says carefully so that she doesn’t scare Lena away, “this is the first time you’ll be planting. Are you sure?”

“I plant all the time, what are you talking about?” 

Kara stops and looks at Lena, “I thought you said you've never planted before.”

“I know you never noticed this but I’ve been planting in my apartment.”

“You’ve been planting in your apartment? With who?” Kara asks in a louder tone and remembers to calm herself down. Lena has all the right to be sleeping with someone else if she wants. 

“Just me. Alone.”

At Lena’s confession, Kara relaxes. Oh, that kind. 

“Really? You go upstairs to plant alone?”

“Why? Is that weird?”

“No, no, it’s healthy. I just… I just never imagined you as a girl who... plants alone I guess.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve also been planting on the rooftop.”

“On the rooftop!??” Kara didn’t mean to shout but the idea of Lena masturbating on the rooftop of their apartment building is beyond her imagination.

“You can plant there, you’ve never been?”

“Technically, you can plant anywhere, but the rooftop? You? Really?”

“What is so surprising about that?”

“At the rooftop, though?” Kara wonders if this is because Lena wants some privacy, so Kara suggests, “You can plant… here. If you want. I’ll get out of the way.”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point of this conversation. I want to do the planting on your balcony.”

“On the balcony? Where the neighbors could see? Is that where you want to do our planting?” Kara asks Lena in disbelief, maybe Lena is not as innocent as Kara thought she is.

“Where else would you do it?” Lena asks back.

“I know you’re intimidated but we don’t have to go wild and do it on the balcony for your first time. We can do it on the bed?” 

“I just want to plant some zucchinis and some herbs on your balcony, why do I need to do it on the bed?”

There was a long silence between Lena and Kara after that statement. To Lena, it looks like Kara just stopped completely. She is actually sitting there on the couch, unmoving, and for a moment Lena actually thinks that Kara is a robot who just ran out of battery.

Kara, however, is running back their past conversations in her mind. Outside, she's still. But inside, her head is running a million miles a minute replacing her misunderstanding with the truth. Slowly, she realizes that Lena was talking about an actual garden this whole time and Kara turns red with embarrassment.

"Are you okay?"

"So, you want to plant a garden on my balcony?"

"Yes? Isn't this what we've been talking about?"

"Yes. Of course. Sure. No problem. Do whatever you want," Kara panics and grabs her car keys to head out of the apartment.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Sam and kill her."

As Kara leaves the apartment, Lena wasn't sure if that was a joke or something that Kara actually considers because of how serious she said it. She shrugs it off and goes to the balcony to plan for the garden. She wonders what Kara meant by suggesting they do their planting on the bed, then writes it off as Kara being the jokester that she is. _Idiot._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the dumbest thing i’ve ever written


	19. pumpkin

Kara clears her throat loudly as she looks over at Lena who is sleeping next to her. When Lena doesn’t move, she clears her throat even louder until Lena starts to shift in bed. 

“Oh good, you're up,” Kara says cheerfully on that Saturday morning.

“You woke me up,” Lena groans, wondering what favor Kara wants from her.

"Do you want breakfast?"

"Just get me whatever."

“Just tell me what you want. I’ll buy you anything.”

“Anything?” Lena chuckles, Kara could barely cover the cost of their repairs, much less getting Lena anything for breakfast.

“Pizza, hamburger, cake. Anything. Just name it.”

When Kara listed down the foods, Lena groans even louder, “Stop. That's not breakfast food.”

“Anything's breakfast food if you eat it in the morning,” Kara replies back with a smile.

“Just get me a croissant.”

“Okay! Have I ever mentioned you’re the best?”

“Not often enough,” Lena grumbles as she grabs the blanket to cover herself.

“You're the best,” Kara says cheerfully as she prepares herself to go out.

When she walks over to the living room she looks up the hole and yells, “J'onn? You and your boys need breakfast? I’m going out.”

“Thanks, Kara. We got ours already.”

\--

“How's your croissant?” Kara asks as she stares at Lena eating her breakfast.

“Good,” Lena replies without looking up.

“Anything else you need? Coffee? Tea? Milk? Orange juice?”

Lena stops eating and just looks at her roommate who is doting on her in an obvious way, “I’m moving out in three days.”

“I know.”

“I feel like you’re trying to make me stay here forever.”

“Is it working?” Kara asks, even though she knows the answer.

“Stop. You’re too much.”

“I just want to make sure we have the best last three days together.”

Lena could feel the sincerity in Kara’s tone so all she could do is nod in return. She wants to have the best last three days together too.

\--

“Here is the overall budget, and how much you’ve paid me,” Lena shows Kara a folder filled with spreadsheets.

Without opening the folder, Kara just nods back, “Okay. Just tell me how much I owe you.”

"$900. After tomorrow's hundred, $800 actually."

"Okay."

“Kara, can you please take a look at it anyway? Like, really go through the folder?” 

“I believe you.”

“Just look anyway? Please. I will feel better if you know where your money is going,” Lena pleads.

Kara opens the folder and takes a look at the detailed spreadsheet. It has the payment dates of every hundreds Kara has paid Lena, even the weeks they skipped. Attached are all the receipts, quotations, and other bills for the repair. In an easier table, it shows that Kara has paid $1600 so far, so she still owes Lena another $900. If Kara were to bear the whole cost, she needs to find another $3400 and she winces at the amount.

It was then Kara realizes money is a sensitive issue for Lena, knowing that her family scammed other people out of theirs. After giving it a thorough look, Kara passes back the folder, “Looks good to me. Thanks for doing all this.”

“Do you want to double check? I’ve listed down the dates of when you paid me and—”

“Lena,” Kara says and touches Lena’s hand to assure her, “you’re not your family. I trust you.”

Lena just smiles back warmly as a reply.

\--

“Aaaaand it’s covered,” Kara looks up and announces loudly as J’onn covers up the hole and the construction noises start again.

“You shouldn’t be directly under the hole, what if something wrong happens?” Lena drags Kara away from the area. They’re packing Lena’s stuff, what little of it anyway, to bring it upstairs later. Tomorrow Lena will do a final deep clean at Kara’s apartment and on Monday she will move back into her own apartment.

Kara finds herself staring back up at where the hole used to be, hoping that something wrong would actually happen.

She hates that J’onn and his boys are doing a good job on it.

\--

“What’s that?” Kara asks as Lena comes out of the bathroom wearing a bright orange sweater.

“My going away present from Sam. She found this at her shop. Cute, right?”

“So cute.”

“Eve, how cute is this?” Lena runs over to Eve to show her the new sweater.

“Oh my god, adorable!”

“You know, I can help you with cleaning up the apartment, you didn’t have to bother Eve on a Sunday,” Kara pouts. She secretly wanted the last two days of Lena as her roommate to herself.

When both Lena and Eve laugh at her face, Kara gets visibly annoyed, “Fine, laugh all you want. I won't help you then.”

Lena comes over and grabs Kara's hand, "I'll take all the help I can get. Even from you, grumpy face."

\--

“When are you telling Lena you like her?” Eve whispers to Kara as Lena is busy cleaning the kitchen.

“Not you too.”

“We just want you to be happy, Kara. You deserve someone like Lena.”

“I don’t know if I like her in that way.”

“In what other possible ways are there? Just go tell her you like her already, she’s moving tomorrow!”

“Shh, not too loud!” Kara scolds Eve as she eyes the kitchen to make sure Lena didn’t overhear, “I don’t have the money yet. If I tell her I’ve fallen for her I need to bear the full cost.”

“Are you for real? Do you think she cares about that?” Eve scolds back through clenched teeth, careful not to be too loud.

“I care! I was the one who made this bet!” Kara shouts in a whisper.

“You’re just delaying this because you’re scared.”

“What if she doesn’t like me back, Eve? I’ll be losing a friend.”

“You didn’t like me back and I’m still your friend,” Eve states and Kara just stares at her, “Be brave, Kara.”

\--

“Are you sure you will be okay?” Lena asks as she goes through the listings again.

“You’re just upstairs, if I can’t find my stuff, I’ll knock on your door,” Kara rolls her eyes. 

Eve just laughs at Kara’s statement, “Will you? Or are you going to open the cabinets one by one and mess this all up again?”

“Even Eve knows this place better than you do,” Lena smiles, “but sure, knock on my door any time, Kara.”

They spend the next hour taking off the duct tape all over the apartment. Lena being meticulous, wants to make sure all the sticky residues are gone as well. All three girls are on their knees as they try to wipe away the floor clean, leaving it spotless.

“Pumpkin, can you pass me the towel?” Kara asks as she wipes away the sweat of her brow with the back of her hand.

“What did you just call me?” Lena stops wiping and looks at Kara. She could see Eve trying to control her laughter.

“Did you just give me a nickname??” Lena smiles even wider.

“No! No! I didn’t mean anything! It just came out!” Kara denies as a hint of blush creeps up her cheeks.

“I’m PUMPKIN??” Lena shouts even louder.

“You called Lena pumpkin!” Eve joins in the mockery.

“I didn’t!”

“You did! You totally did!” Lena exclaims excitedly at Kara’s slip up. 

“I said.... Punk… chin.”

Arching her eyebrow, Lena looks pointedly at Kara, “You said, ‘Punk chin, pass me the towel?’ Really?” 

“Yes, because…. your chin…. looks punk?” Kara tries to find an excuse, and fails miserably.

Lena quickly dials a number and the moment the other line picks up she says, “Hey Alex, guess what Kara just called me?”

Kara groans at what is happening to her right now. Out of all the days for her to accidentally say something like this. She grabs the phone from Lena and could hear Alex laughing on the other end, “Stop laughing! I didn’t mean it!” and hangs up.

“Is it because of this orange sweater?” Lena asks as she stands up and pulls the sweater down to show Eve.

“Come to think of it, you started calling me muffin when I wore that muffin patterned shirt!” Eve yells out.

Lena's eyes go even wider than before, “Wait, does this mean I’m part of your non-girlfriends? I got a nickname!”

“Welcome, sister,” Eve teases as she opens up her arms for a hug.

“Sister!” Lena goes in for the hug and she could see Kara has her face in her hands, regretting the slip up. She feels sorry for Kara but it’s so enjoyable to make fun of her.

“Ooh, I need to call Sam and Lucy. I need to ask them how they get their nicknames,” Lena laughs and Eve joins her.

“Okay, you two, very funny, we can stop now,” Kara steps in between the two girls, hoping that would stop the teasing.

Lena leans in whispers, “It’s not everyday you mess up. This is fun.”

“Zip it, pumpkin.”

\--

“Did you clean up here?” Kara asks as she helps Lena carry up her box of clothes. Eve went back (after a session of good teasing at Kara’s slip up) as she needed to get ready for her shift at the froyo shop.

“It's still my apartment. Thanks, you can put it there,” Lena instructs.

“You don't even stay here.”

“I don't know if you know how dust works, but it accumulate. I come up every other week and just sweep mostly.”

“What are you doing?” Lena asks as Kara goes inside further to browse her apartment.

“I just realized I’ve never been up here before. You don’t have a lot of stuff,” Kara points out the lack of furniture and other household items.

“I’m only leasing it for a year, not to mention I’ve spent most of my time downstairs,” Lena replies.

“Hey, J’onn, how’s it going?” Kara greets the contractor as she walks over what used to be the hole on Lena’s floor.

“Kara. Miss Luthor,” J’onn greets back, “Going well, we’ve secured the foundation and covered the hole. We just have to do the final touches on the reflooring tomorrow and we’re done.”

Kara stands over where the hole used to be and asks, “So can I jump or whatever?”

“Kara, please don’t,” Lena tries to stop her.

“It’s fine, Miss Luthor. She can jump all she wants. I assure you, you won’t have a hole on your floor ever again.”

“J’onn,” Kara calls him out, “I’m going to jump as hard as I can.”

J’onn just laughs, a deep belly laugh that takes Lena by surprise, “Go for it, Kara.”

And Kara did, much to Lena’s dismay. If Lena didn’t know any better, it really looked like Kara was trying to make another hole on the floor.

“Damn, J’onn, you did a great job. Not even a dent.”

“It’s okay, Miss Luthor. I’ll make sure to wax it a bit tomorrow, there won’t even be any scratches.”

Lena just watches Kara as she has a good friendly back and forth with J’onn. Sometimes, the other contractors join in and they all crack some jokes and laughs. Lena wishes she had the charisma Kara has to talk to strangers like this.

“Thanks for the great work, J’onn. See you tomorrow.”

As Lena shows J’onn and his boys the way out, she goes over to Kara and hugs her, “How are you so good with people? I don’t know what to do without you.”

Kara returns the hug and pats Lena on her arms, “I’ll be downstairs if you ever need me.”

\--

On their last night together, Kara asks Lena, “Do you have your mother’s picture?”

“Yeah, it’s in my book.”

“Can I have it? I’ll be quick.”

Lena turns around and grabs her book to take out the photo she looks at every night. She gives the photo to Kara and Kara grabs something from under the bed. It’s a picture frame and she opens it to place the photo inside.

“Here. Your going away present. Sorry, it’s not much. I still have to pay my ex-roommate a hundred bucks for the next 8 weeks,” Kara’s smile grows wider as she hands the frame to Lena.

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” Lena traces the photo with her finger, "and I told you I could afford the balance of the repair cost. You don't have to pay me back."

"I promised, didn't I?"

"You're so stubborn," Lena sighs, "are you going to bed? I'll go turn off the lights."

“It's okay, I’ll do it,” Kara offers even though she was the first one in bed.

When she’s back in bed, she turns to face Lena, and she could see Lena’s silhouette is facing her as well.

“Good night, pumpkin.”

Lena laughs at her new nickname. “Good night, Kara.”

“Lena,” Kara whispers softly into the night.

“Yeah?” Lena whispers back with the same soft volume.

It was silent for a while and Lena wonders what Kara wants to say. After a good minute, Kara spits out, “Thanks for being my roommate.”

Lena smiles in the darkness, “You too. Thanks for being my roommate.”

Silence fills the room yet again until Lena asks, “Question.”

“Shoot.”

“I feel like crying,” Lena’s voice was shaky, and Kara could tell she’s about to cry.

“That’s not a question,” Kara replies back with the same quiver in her voice, as she’s about to cry too.

When Lena hears Kara’s reply, tears start forming in her eyes, and she cries openly in front of her roommate, on their last night together.

“Come here,” Kara pulls Lena in and hugs her close as she sings the French lullaby her mother used to sing for her. Although Lena wasn’t quite sure who the song is meant for. It feels like Kara is singing it to herself as much as she’s singing it to Lena. 

\--

Kara wakes up early, she’s been doing that a lot recently, sometimes just to watch Lena asleep. There’s something so calming watching her sleep, like all the problems in the world just washes away with every subtle rise and fall of her chest, with every slow breath that she takes. After their cry session last night, they both fell asleep in each other’s embrace, and Kara finds herself smiling when she wakes up with Lena in her arms. She lifts her hand slowly and pulls away, careful not to wake Lena up, and gently drapes a blanket over her. 

As Kara was making coffee, Lena opens her eyes and sighs. She had woken up earlier, but stayed in bed because she enjoyed being in the warmth of Kara's arms. Lena starts to cry again thinking that she will be alone after today.

\--

“Good morning, I made coffee,” Kara says when she sees Lena walking into the kitchen.

“Morning. Thanks. I thought you’re working today?” Lena asks as she looks at the clock, Kara should be preparing for work right now.

“I’ll go in a bit. What time will you be moving back upstairs?”

“J’onn said they’ll be done by 4 today. I'll do some cleaning then I'll move.”

“Do you need help carrying anything?”

“I only have 1 bag left to carry upstairs.”

“Right.”

“Kara.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll wait for you to come back from work before I leave.”

“Okay.”

\--

Lena did wait for Kara, even when Kara texted her she’ll be late. Lena waited, and they had their last dinner as roommates together. They had their last talk as roommates together. They had their last laugh as roommates together. 

And now, after accompanying Lena upstairs, Kara is standing in front of Lena’s apartment. Both of them shift awkwardly in front of each other, not wanting to really make it official and leave.

When Lena tries to give back the keys to Kara’s apartment, she stops her.

“Keep it, for emergencies or whatever.”

“Okay,” Lena says as she puts back the keys in her pocket, “It’s going to be weird not seeing you everyday.”

“I’ll just be downstairs.”

“And I’ll be here if you need me.”

“See you around, pumpkin.”

At the mention of her new nickname, Lena makes a face.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you didn’t like it. I’ll stop.”

Except Lena did like it. But liking things that Kara does just spells trouble, and she’s trying to avoid that. The past few days have been hard, really hard. It took everything in Lena to go ahead with the moving process. If she follows her heart, she wants to stay with Kara forever. But there’s no logic in that. Her house is fixed now. There’s no more reason to stay with Kara, however bad her heart wants it. Perhaps this distance between them is what Lena really needs.

Kara opens her arms for a hug that Lena easily steps into and they hold each other for a long moment before letting go. A tight hug that Kara feels her entire walk back to her own apartment.

When Kara gets back to her apartment, it becomes apparent that Lena is truly not there anymore. And yet, everything in the apartment reminds her of Lena.

The duct tape is gone, but Kara could trace with her eyes the slight marks where it used to be, and she still remembers which side was Lena's and which one was hers. Kara walks over to the fridge to see that the laminated list still hangs on the side. She could mentally hear Lena scolding her to put her mug back to the cabinet it belongs to. There's also a post-it with _take out the trash_ that looks like it was written by Lena recently. Kara doesn't dare throw it away.

Lena is gone and yet she is everywhere.

When Kara gets to her bed, she grabs her pillow and it smells like Lena. And that’s when Kara starts crying. Hard. She feels foolish doing so because Lena is just upstairs, she could go up and see her at any time she wants, but it just doesn’t feel the same. Because all Kara wants is for Lena to be in their bed with her, doing their routine night talks, and bid each other their daily good nights. 

Except Lena is not here, even though she is everywhere.

Kara lies down on her bed and looks up. How is Lena so close and yet so far away? She thinks back on Eve's words, telling her to be brave. 

She gets up from bed and grabs a sheet of paper, her pen and unopened mail of bank statements. For the first time in her entire adult life, Kara starts to do her budgeting. 

\--

As the night falls, it becomes really apparent that Lena is truly alone. Sleeping next to Kara for the past few months has become her security blanket, literally and metaphorically. Lena realizes how cold the night feels without Kara’s embrace comforting her to sleep. She almost wants to go downstairs and knock on Kara’s door and ask her if she could sleep in her bed for one more night. Almost.

It’s ridiculous because she has her apartment back, so she has to learn to sleep in her home right now. Her home that doesn’t really feel like home because Lena still feels like her home is downstairs. She takes the framed photo next to her to look at her mom, but finds her gaze shifts towards little Kara in the middle of the picture with her rainbow ice cream. 

As she tries to make herself go to sleep, Lena hears four loud thunks from her floor, and her phone pops up a new text message.

_Good night, Lena. :)_

Lena stomps her floor hard four times and another notification comes in.

_Not too hard, you’ll break my ceiling again._

Lena just sends a quick _idiot_ as a reply and finds herself smiling to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you see me crying writing this no you didn’t


	20. game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so just an update, the prompts are catching up to me (i would usually finish writing a chapter the day before but I literally finished this 5 mins ago and I haven't even started on tomorrow's) so i don’t think i can keep up with posting at midnight EDT as usual starting with tomorrow's chapter. I'll try to still update on the day itself tho! However late it might be lol
> 
> Anyway feel free to scream at me in the comments after reading this chapter :)

“Hey,” Kara greets Lena as she steps inside the elevator on that Thursday evening.

“Hi,” Lena greets back, and presses the button for Kara's floor for her.

It’s been a few days since Lena moved back into her apartment, and it seems the few days was enough to make everything somewhat awkward between them again. When they were roommates they could spend time together without reasons, and now even a simple greeting is making them feel like strangers.

“Busy?” Kara asks as she never hears Lena around in her apartment lately.

“Yeah, Team Leader stuff. I go out early and back late most nights.”

When the elevator reaches Kara’s floor, she steps out and says, “Take care of yourself. Good night, Lena.”

“Um, Kara,” Lena holds the elevator doors open with her hand and rummages through her handbag with her other hand. She takes out a set of keys and hands it to Kara.

“These are keys to my apartment, I made an extra set,” Lena says sheepishly, “you know, since I have yours. For emergencies.”

Kara grabs the keys with a smile and repeats Lena’s words, “For emergencies.”

“Good night, Kara.”

The elevator door closes on them as they smile at each other.

\--

Lena didn’t realize how hard it is to be a Team Leader. Especially when all the members of her team don't like her. She works late again tonight as no one wants to do their part of the work, so Lena does it for everyone else, hoping that would at least earn her some respect. Yet no one appreciates it and Lena is at a loss every single day. She walks heavily into her apartment and opens the door with a sigh, only to find Kara cooking in her kitchen. No, wait. This is not her kitchen. Lena looks back at the apartment number on the door and realizes she’s the one at the wrong apartment.

“Did you forget something here?” Kara asks with a huge grin.

“Oh jeez, I'm sorry. I wanted to go back to my apartment,” Lena shakes her head. She must have been so tired she subconsciously walked back to Kara’s apartment.

“No, stay. Since you're here, do you want dinner? I made too much pasta.”

Pasta sounds real good since Lena also forgot to grab herself some dinner. And after a long day at work, she didn’t have the energy to build herself a salad. Plus, Kara is looking at her with a huge smile that’s hard to say no to.

“Okay,” Lena says as she steps inside the familiar apartment.

When she goes to grab a plate, she looks at the one item that doesn’t belong in the kitchen and asks, “Why is the tennis racket out?”

“I can't find my pasta strainer,” Kara shrugs.

“What? Pasta strainer is D3! It's in the list!” Lena yells as she opens the cabinet to show Kara the pasta strainer, “Honestly, how did you survive before me?”

“Barely,” Kara just smiles warmly as Lena yells at her. She misses this.

“Idiot.”

As they eat their dinner, Kara notices Lena has a gloom look on her face. 

“Rough day at work?” she asks.

Lena hesitates before telling Kara. It's not like she doesn't want to tell Kara, it's just that it's been a few days since they last talk and Lena didn't know how to start.

“What's wrong? You can talk to me.”

“Right,” Lena nods and takes a deep breath, “my team hates me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing everything wrong. They don’t listen to me. They don’t do their tasks. They ignore me. They just hang out amongst themselves,” Lena complains and takes another bite of the pasta.

“Then go hang out with them,” Kara suggests.

“What?”

““Join them when they hang out together. Or even invite them to hang out. They don’t really hate you, they just don’t know you. Open up to them.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Lena smiles as she stabs another piece of pasta. Somehow, Kara just knows what to say to ease her mind. 

After dinner, Lena starts to feel the tiredness setting in and she yawns, “I'm going upstairs. Thanks for dinner.”

“Um, tomorrow!” Kara blurts out.

“What?”

“If you want, we can have dinner together tomorrow. Since you're eating alone, and I'm eating alone… might as well eat alone together?”

“Sure, we can eat alone together,” Lena smiles a little, “I'll see you tomorrow night?” 

“Okay. Good night, Lena.”

“Good night, Kara.”

\--

“I like Lena!” Kara announces as she steps inside Sam’s house.

“I should really start locking my door,” Sam mutters under her breath and appears from the kitchen to find Kara pacing back and forth in the living room.

“I like Lena a lot, are you happy?!”

Sam didn’t say anything but just crosses her arms and looks at Kara who’s having her own meltdown.

“I like Lena! At first, I thought I was just feeling like this because she’s leaving. But now I can’t stop thinking about her. Yesterday, she accidentally stepped into my apartment instead of hers and I was happy? Like, shit, Sam, I was so happy to see her! Like, over the moon, walking on air, all those clichés happy. Then, I asked her to have dinner again with me! What is happening to me? I don’t ask girls out to dinner! She's made me into a mess. Oh, hi guys, what are you doing here?” 

Kara stops when she sees Eve and Lucy coming out from Sam’s kitchen.

“Do you always walk into someone’s house with a confession? Because I’m loving all this. Also, finally!” Lucy exclaims with a huge grin on her face.

“A little help?” Kara asks all three of her ex non-girlfriends.

“Why are you telling us? Go and tell her you like her,” Sam scolds.

“I can’t. I don’t have the money. Not yet,” Kara looks down and shakes her head.

“What?” the three of them ask at the same time.

“The bet? If I’ve fallen for her, I have to pay for everything.”

“The hole is repaired! Stop thinking about the stupid bet!” Now Sam is the one getting riled up.

“I have a plan, trust me. I'll get the money.”

“You are being so ridiculous,” Lucy laughs a little.

“The thing is, what if she doesn’t like me back? I’ll be losing money and a friend. I don't mind the money but I can’t afford to lose her as a friend.”

“She definitely likes you, Kara,” Eve tries to reassure her.

“How do you know? Did she tell you?”

“I can feel it in my gut,” she replies with a smile.

“I can’t risk it all based on your gut!”

“We’ll help. Get us all out together, we’ll try and gauge Lena’s feelings,” Lucy offers, “Right?” she asks Sam and Eve and they both nod.

“You have 3 wingwomen here to help you out, what could go wrong?”

\--

“This one is great,” Kara tells Eve as she has another taste of the froyo, “this one is a bit too tangy.”

Turns out Eve is letting Sam and Lucy have a taste test of her new froyo flavors, which Kara has now hijacked and giving opinions of her own. 

“Do you have any more of this one?” Kara points to the empty cup, signaling for Eve to refill it.

“It’s a taste test, Kara. You’re not supposed to finish the whole tub,” Eve says with an exasperated tone but gets up anyway to refill the cup for Kara. 

When she places the refilled cup in front of Kara, Kara looks up to her and asks, “Eve, did you hate me? After? Was it hard?”

Eve sits down and replies with a sad smile, “Hate you? Never. But yeah, it was hard. For a while.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“You did, yeah.”

“I just… I just want to apologize. I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“I didn't mean to hurt you, I just thought it would be best if we didn't get together.”

“What’s with the sudden apology, Kara?” Eve asks, genuinely curious.

“I just realized what an asshole I was to you. I’m truly lucky to still have you as a friend,” Kara says with a nervous smile.

“You think all this has something to do with that ex-roommate of yours? The old you would have jumped from one girl to another, and never would have thought to apologize to me for what you’ve done," Eve points it out for Kara.

“Probably. She calls me out on all my shit,” Kara laughs lightly. 

“Well, you are full of it sometimes,” Eve smiles.

“I think she makes me want to be better, you know?”

“So _you_ need to tell her how you truly feel about her, you owe her that much.”

“Teach me how to be brave like you,” Kara smiles to Eve and Eve just smiles back.

“We’ll help you get your girl.”

\--

“How come you don’t have your non-girlfriends over anymore?” Lena asks as she takes another bite of her dumpling.

“Sorry?”

“I know you didn’t have them over because I was here before, but now I’m not.”

 _Because I don’t want a non-girlfriend anymore_ Kara thinks to herself and wonders if she should just gather up her courage and tell Lena now.

“No reason,” she replies instead, “Why? Do you want to be my non-girlfriend? Applications are open,” Kara jokes, but secretly hopes Lena would say yes.

“Sometimes I feel like I am,” Lena says and Kara looks at her with wide eyes, “just without the benefits,” and Lena laughs a little.

“Do you want the benefits?” Kara teases as she tries to gauge Lena’s reaction.

“With you? No thanks.”

Lena’s answers were so quick it acts like an arrow that shoots straight at Kara’s heart, and Kara actually flinches at the metaphorical pain it caused. 

“I'm hosting game night this Saturday, do you wanna join?” Kara tries to change the subject. 

“Who else is coming?” Lena asks.

“The three stooges. Sam, Eve, Lucy. Maybe I’ll invite a few more, I don’t know yet.”

“What games do you play on game nights?”

“I don’t know. The usuals, charades, twister, jenga? We’ll probably just drink most of the time anyway.”

“I’ve never played any of those.”

“What?”

“The games you just mentioned. I don’t know how to play them.”

“What do you usually play with Lex when you were kids?”

“Chess?”

“Oh my God, I’m not playing chess on game night. You know what, drop by earlier on Saturday. I’ll teach you the basics. Then, you’ll be ready for the night. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect.”

\--

Kara pretends to crank an old movie camera.

“Movie”

Kara holds up 2 fingers in the air.

“Two words!”

Kara shows 1 finger to Lena.

“The first word!”

Kara holds up her fist and punches the air.

“Punch! Boxing! Fight!”

When Lena says the third word Kara points at her excitedly.

“Fight! Fight… Fight club!”

“Yay, you got it!”

They have been practicing charades for the past hour just to familiarize Lena with the game. Kara showed Lena all her other board games as well and Lena destroyed her in Monopoly. But Kara gets her revenge when she wins at Scrabble. They even played chess for the heck of it just because Kara wanted Lena to teach her some chess moves. It was the most fun they have had together ever since Lena moved.

When Sam arrives, she sees Lena and Kara already in their usual setting in the apartment.

“Seems like nothing changed,” she points out loud.

“Hi, Sam. I’ve been here since morning,” Lena greets her.

“Of course you have,” Sam gives a knowing smile to Kara and Kara just gives a look back to Sam signaling her to _shut it._

Kara orders pizza after Eve and Lucy arrives and they just have a good chat over dinner before they start playing. It feels like a normal gathering of friends, without any hidden agenda whatsoever. The thing is, they didn’t actually come up with a plan on _how_ they want to figure out if Lena has feelings for Kara, and now Kara regrets that they didn’t because she is anxious if Lena might figure out what this night is truly about.

Kara's worries were dispelled as charades went along without a hitch. Kara and Lena are a team against Eve and Lucy while Sam plays the host and judge. They work well together, reading each other’s movements and working as a unit. Those who lose a point have to drink and by the next hour Eve and Lucy are pretty buzzed. 

\--

Sam pulls Kara aside to the kitchen to change their game plan, “Charades is boring. You can’t tell how she feels with charades!”

“But we work well together. Doesn’t that say something?” Kara shrugs, perfectly happy with how this night is going.

“I got an idea,” Sam smiles and walks back to the living room.

“Truth or dare!” Sam shouts suddenly and Kara just mouths _what are you doing_ to Sam and she just winks back and nods. They _really_ should have planned what to do for game night because the transition from charades to truth or dare looks really forced but Lena seems to be oblivious and having a good time.

“How do you play truth or dare?” Lena asks.

“I’ll say ‘truth or dare’ and you choose which one you want. Truth, I’ll ask you a question and you answer honestly. Dare, you have to do what I tell you. If you don’t, you drink,” Sam explains.

“Sounds simple enough,” Lena smiles.

“Truth or dare?” Sam asks Lena.

“With the way you're looking at me right now I'm too scared for dare, so truth,” Lena laughs.

“Do you have a crush right now?”

At the question, Kara steals a glance at Lena, who cheerfully answered, “Yes.”

Kara's heart skips a beat at Lena's answer. 

Eve and Lucy coos, “Ooooh, who is it? Tell us! Tell us!”

“That wasn’t the question,” Lena smirks.

“She’s a smart one, this one,” Sam remarks, “okay, Lena, your turn. You can ask any of us.”

“Okay, Sam,” Lena asks, “truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Ummm…” Lena pauses and looks at Kara, “any suggestions?”

“You can tell Sam to do anything, she has to do it.”

“I don’t know… uh, finish this beer!” Lena points to Sam’s drink and Sam just cocks an eyebrow, “that’s it? Come on, Lena.”

Sam grabs the beer and drinks it anyway and looks at Kara, “Kara, truth or dare.”

“Dare.”

“I’ll show you how it’s done, Lena,” Sam says as she looks at Lena then back at Kara, “get on this table and do a strip tease for us.”

“Wooo!” Lucy shouts and Eve opens up her phone to play some sultry music, “Come on, Kara.”

Kara gets on the table and proceeds to take off her shirt really slowly, following along to the beat of the music. She looks at Lena who is looking away, embarrassed. In her bra, Kara hops off the table and starts to straddle Sam playfully on the couch, “Satisfied?”

“Very,” Sam smirks and smacks Kara’s ass while Eve and Lucy just laughs.

“Eve,” Kara asks as she buttons up her shirt back up again, “truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“Who’s the most inappropriate person you’ve ever fantasized about?”

“Oh gosh,” Eve looks down shyly, and looks back up at Lena, “Lex Luthor.”

“What?” Sam shouts and Lucy follows, while Kara just laughs.

“Wait, my brother?” Lena looks at Eve with shock in her eyes.

“Don’t ask,” Eve hangs her head in shame, “it was a phase.”

“Was it the bald head? Tell me it’s because of the bald head,” Kara asks, still laughing.

“Stop, I don’t want to hear this,” Lena puts both her hands up to her ears while Kara prods Eve along.

Everyone is having a laugh while Lena is just hoping the conversation would move along.

“Lena, truth or dare?” Eve asks.

“Dare,” Lena answers hesitantly, hoping that Eve wouldn’t dare her like what Sam did to Kara.

“For the rest of the game, you have to sit on Kara’s lap.”

Kara just throws a pointed look at Eve and shakes her head, while Lena slowly gets up and walks over to Kara. Kara gives a few taps on her lap, inviting Lena to sit on it.

“Sorry,” Lena says as she sits down.

“It’s fine. It’s the game.”

“I’m just glad it’s you.”

At Lena’s reply, Kara feels a warmth washes over her. She puts her hands on Lena’s hips to keep her steady, and Lena places her arm over Kara’s shoulders, half hugging her. When Kara looks over to the other girls, they have the cheesiest grin on their faces and Kara groans internally. Just her luck to have three drunkards as her wingwomen.

“It’s your turn,” Kara whispers.

“Oh, right, ermmm, Lucy! Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?”

Lucy just points to Kara, “This one."

Everyone gave a raucous laugh and Lucy adds, "You should have asked that question to Kara. The list would be endless.”

“Remember that one time she made plans for me and you on the same night?” Sam cries out and both Lucy and Sam shout at the same time, “And lamb chop shows up!”

“Lamb chop?” Lena asks Kara but Kara ignores the question and just sighs instead. Kara hugs Lena tighter and Lena just rubs Kara's back to console her.

“How about that one time that girl- who was it- the one when you ran out of that house naked?” Eve joins in.

“How was I supposed to know she was married!” Kara defends herself.

"Oh! That one time you had sex so hard, you pounded the girl's head onto the drywall and she fainted?" Sam remembers.

"Oh my God," Lena reacts to the story and looks at Kara who is avoiding her gaze.

The three of them laugh even harder as they list down more of Kara’s sexy misadventures. This is going terribly. Her three wingwomen are quite possibly the three worst wingwomen in history. They're listing down all her past non-girlfriends and all Kara wants is for Lena to stop listening to all this. It's not helping that Lena is on her lap for the whole duration and Kara can't just run away. How could she possibly convince Lena she likes her when she has all this past flings hanging over her head?

“Kara,” Lucy asks, “truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“Out of all the people in this room, who would you like to date?”

At the question, Lena starts to laugh a little and everyone turns to look at her.

“Oh, Kara doesn’t do dates. So the answer is no one,” Lena answers for Kara, “right?”

Kara wanted to correct Lena but with how the night was going, she feels like there’s no hope left. Lena already has an image of Kara in her head, and it’s probably not something she looks for in a partner. Who wants to be with someone who fools around and has never had a serious committed relationship in her entire life? 

“Yeah, I don’t do dates,” Kara answers bitterly. This night is futile. 

“Lena, truth or dare?” Kara asks and with a softer voice she whispers, “choose dare.”

“Dare?”

“I dare you to get off my lap.”

“Boo!!” Sam yells as Lena gets off Kara’s lap and sits down next to her. Kara just isn’t in the mood anymore and grabs a bottle of beer and chugs it down. The game goes on but Kara is half concentrating and just keeps drinking. They continue making silly dares and asking questions and Kara keeps drinking. _This night is stupid._

“Okay Lena,” Lucy asks, “where is the wildest place you ever had sex?”

At the question Kara perks up and looks at Lena. When Kara sees the discomfort in Lena’s face, she shouts out, “This game is boring, let’s play another game!”

“But Lena haven’t—”

“Another game, Lucy.”

“Spin the bottle!” Sam shouts suddenly and Kara has her head in her hands. Her friends are a bunch of idiots.

\--

“Did you get the rules?” Kara whispers to Lena.

“Just spin and kiss, right?” Lena whispers back.

“Yeah, and you don’t have to kiss them if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine, it’s just a game, right?”

“Right.”

The first few rounds were simple. Eve kisses Lucy. Lucy kisses Kara. Kara kisses Eve.

When Eve spins the bottle, it lands on Lena. Kara looks over to Lena with concern in her eyes, but Lena crawls over willingly and gives Eve a quick kiss on the lips. 

Guess Kara was worried about nothing. Maybe she might actually get a kiss from Lena through this game. Seems like her wingwomen came through after all.

\--

Kara is annoyed. She's annoyed because everyone has kissed Lena except for her.

When Sam’s bottle lands on Lena again, Kara calls out, “Are you kidding me? Did you rig the bottle?”

“Hey, the bottle lands where it wanna lands,” Sam shrugs and crawls over to give Lena a quick kiss.

When it’s Lena’s turn to spin, it finally lands on Kara. Kara has the brightest smile on her face but it quickly dies down when she sees the look on Lena’s face. Lena looks hesitant, like the idea of kissing Kara is not something she wishes for.

The rest of the girls cheered like they’re at the ballgame. The three of them start to chant, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” but Lena’s face still looks reluctant. 

And Kara’s heart breaks. 

Of course Lena doesn't want to kiss her. Lena doesn't know that Kara likes her. To Lena, Kara is just another playgirl who kisses other girls for fun. So Kara puts on a brave face, and helps Lena out, even though her heart is aching.

"Come on, guys. I would never kiss a Luthor! Stop forcing us."

"Then you have to drink!" 

"I'll drink 3 bottles, one for each of you, as long as this means I don't have to kiss Lena Luthor!" Kara declares as she drowns herself in beer, hoping the alcohol would make her forget the face Lena made.

\--

Kara lays down on her couch and groans loudly. When a gentle hand places a warm damp towel on her forehead, Kara doesn't have to open her eyes to know that this touch belongs to Lena. She takes the damp towel and places it over her eyes, hoping it would conceal half the emotion she feels right now.

“Thanks.”

“I’ve washed all the dishes, and cleared all the beer bottles. You just have to take the trash out tomorrow, okay?”

“You don't have to do that anymore, I could do it in the morning, you know?”

“You drank a lot tonight, will you be okay?”

“I’m fine, you can go back.”

But Lena doesn’t. Instead, Kara could feel her presence beside her, probably sitting on the floor next to the couch, as she tenderly tucks an errant strand of hair behind Kara’s ear. And it hurts. It hurts her because Kara knows she’s only doing this as a friend. 

“Thank you… for tonight. I know you were looking out for me,” Lena says as she caresses Kara’s hair, gently stroking it back from her face. 

“No problem.”

“No, I really appreciate it.”

“They’re idiots. They shouldn’t have asked so many private questions.”

Lena takes the damp towel from Kara’s face and folds it so she can wipe the sweat off Kara’s brow, “Are you sure you will be okay? You look flushed.”

Kara opens her eyes and gazes at Lena who is kneeling next to the couch, quietly tending to her. She wonders if Lena truly knows how she feels, would she ever accept her?

“I’ll be fine.”

“That spin the bottle game, I know you took the bullet for me. I should have been the one drinking the punishment.”

“You didn’t want to kiss me. And that’s fine. I’ll be the bad guy.”

“It’s not that I don't want to kiss you, it’s just everyone was cheering and it was just…”

“No need to explain, you should never do anything you're not comfortable with.”

And Kara knows, she knows deep in her heart she should stop herself from saying what about to come out of her mouth next, but she couldn’t help but to feel sorry for herself.

“I know you just think of me as someone who sleeps around, who messes with people’s feelings, so I get it if the idea of kissing me is repulsive to you. You don’t have to explain. I get it,” Kara says and grits her teeth, trying to fight back her tears.

“What? I don’t think kissing you is repulsive, not at all. I just… I didn’t want to do it in front of everybody."

At Lena's honest answer, Kara looks at Lena. Could it be?

"There's no one around now," Kara says with a half smile.

"The game's over," Lena points out.

"Right, of course," Kara replies back, what the hell was she hoping for anyway?

"I'm not saying we would but _if_ we ever do kiss, I don't want it to be because of a game. That’s why I was hesitant.”

At the mention of the word _if_ , Kara’s heart breaks once more. Not _when_ , but _if_. There is a possibility it wouldn’t happen, and Kara feels like that’s the possibility that Lena prefers. Kara tries to stop herself from asking more questions, but she just needed to ask this one last one, even if Lena’s answer might break her heart.

“ _If_ we ever do kiss, how do you imagine it would be?”

As silence stretches between them, Kara regrets asking it.

“You know what, forget I ask—”

“ _If_ we ever do kiss, I imagine it to be in a quiet setting, maybe a quiet room. It doesn’t have to be romantic with candles and music or whatever. Quiet is good enough.” 

“Yeah?” Kara sounds hopeful, since they’re in a quiet setting right now.

“ _If_ we ever do kiss, I imagine the only sound that can be heard is the rapid beating of our hearts right before the kiss.”

Lena’s answer makes Kara feel like crying, because she keeps emphasizing on the _ifs_ , so Kara knows it’s never going to happen. Kara puts up a front and scoffs, “Rapid beating? You're such a romantic."

“ _If_ we ever do kiss, I imagine it to be deep, passionate, yet soft and sweet at the same time. The kind of first kiss you would remember for the rest of your life.”

As Lena continues to describe their imaginary first kiss, Kara stares at Lena. Her eyes drop to Lena’s lips, wondering if she could turn this imaginary situation into a real one. Yet, Kara cares for Lena too much to force her into a kiss that she doesn’t want. If she wanted to kiss Kara she would have kissed her earlier. So Kara held back.

“ _If_ we ever do kiss, I imagine it to be just us, a moment that is not shared by anyone else, a moment that belongs only to us.”

When silence falls between them, and all Kara could hear is the rapid beating of her heart, Lena leans down unexpectedly and gently grabs Kara's face as she plants a kiss, a long one that takes Kara by surprise. It was deep, passionate, yet soft and sweet at the same time, just like how Lena described it. The kind of first kiss you would remember for the rest of your life. After the long intense kiss, they look at each other and Lena kisses her again two more times really softly with the tenderness that Kara realizes she has never experienced before. When Lena pulls away, Kara blinks her eyes slowly and looks at Lena, her mouth still gaping, trying to process what the hell just happened. 

“I imagine it would be something like that.”


	21. Danvers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really made them kiss after almost 60k words lmao damn y'all are strong for lasting this long, this burn was slooooow

“I imagine it would be something like that.”

Lena left in a hurry right after the kiss and the only thing Kara remembers were her last words playing itself on repeat in Kara’s head, and the lingering taste of Lena on her lips. If not for the pounding in her head, and her lack of balance right now, she would have stormed up to Lena’s apartment and asked her what that kiss was about. 

The thing is, Kara has kissed many girls before, so why is this any different? Why is her temperature rising and she feels like she's coming down with a fever any minute? Why is her heart racing so fast like it's beating out of her own chest? Why is she sweating??

What does that kiss mean?

\--

The next morning, Kara, who barely had a wink of sleep, went down to the nearest deli to get herself and Lena some breakfast. For someone who is hungover, it didn’t look like it with the way she greets everyone with a huge smile and literally skips back to her apartment building with breakfast in hand. Kara decided that today's the day she'll tell Lena how she feels. _After all_ , she thought, _Lena must feel the same after our kiss last night_.

Kara waits for the elevator with the intention to go to Lena's apartment but gets a happy surprise when Lena steps out of the elevator instead.

"Oh, good morning," Lena says with a startled tone, "I thought you would be hungover. I was about to get you some breakfast."

"Already got some," Kara says with a huge grin as she shows Lena the box of sandwiches and coffee. 

"Okay, good. I'm going out for groceries then."

"Wait, do you want to have breakfast with me first? I got breakfast for you too."

"Babe!"

Lena looks over Kara to see a blond girl running towards them with a duffel bag in hand. Lena turns to Kara and she could see Kara has a pained expression on her face. The girl hugs Kara from behind, hard.

"Lamb chop, I didn't know you're in town," Kara says without turning around.

"I need a place to stay for 2 nights, babe. I miss you."

When the blond tries to kiss Kara, Kara shifts her face away to avoid it and glances over at Lena, who is expressionless. The kiss landed on her cheeks instead and the blond whispers, a bit too loudly, because Kara knows Lena could hear her, “We can do it all day today, babe.”

"Right," Lena says, "have fun with lamb chop, Danvers."

"Wait, Lena—" Kara cries out but Lena walks out of the situation before Kara could say another word.

"Bad timing, babe?"

_The worst._

\--

Lena stands in front of Kara’s apartment with her groceries in hand. She could hear laughter and giggles on the other side of the door and got inexplicably irked. 

_What am I doing?_

Lena walks back up upstairs and drops the groceries on her floor. She bought Kara her beers because she knows Kara drank everything last night, and now she regrets buying it. Not like Kara cares anyway. She leaves her groceries on the floor, goes back to her bed, and tries to get some rest on that eventful Sunday morning. When she closes her eyes, her mind goes back to last night’s kiss. 

Kara was so sweet to Lena last night, from trying to shield Lena from questions, to taking the blame and drinking on her behalf. And it wasn’t just last night, it was a culmination of many many nights. Lena has always felt very cared for whenever she’s around Kara. Slowly, and quietly, Lena has fallen for Kara. Maybe it started the day she actually fell. Maybe later. All she knew that it was slow, and quiet, and true. That’s why when Kara was lying on the couch, asking Lena how she imagines what their kiss would be like, Lena couldn’t help but to get sucked in the moment and show her. 

A kiss that probably meant nothing to Kara. Kara who has a non-girlfriend downstairs. Kara who is now laughing and having fun with her non-girlfriend downstairs. Kara who is now probably having—

When the laughing downstairs gets louder, Lena stomps on her floor, hard. And the laughing stops.

_Oh God, why did I do that?_

She didn’t mean to do it but it brings her back to the old days when she’s annoyed at the noises her downstairs neighbor is making. Except this time, she is specifically annoyed at Kara who is apparently having a good time with lamb chop, which Lena thinks is quite possibly the dumbest nickname someone could have.

After a minute, there was a knock and Lena quickly checks the mirror and fixes her hair before she opens the door.

“Hey,” Kara greets her when she opens the door.

“You were too loud.”

"Sorry."

"Just… keep it down," Lena avoids Kara’s stare and tries to close the door quickly but Kara holds the door open.

“Lena, I want to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Lena replies but she stands by the door, unsure if she should invite Kara in.

“I want to talk to you… specifically, about the kiss. The kiss we had yesterday. Yesterday after game night,” Kara rambles as she fidgets nervously with her fingers.

“I am aware of the kiss in question, yes,” Lena replies and quickly adds, “Look, I made a mistake. So, I don't want it to be weird between us because of—”

“It was a mistake?” Kara asks Lena and Lena swears she could see a hint of sadness in Kara’s eyes, but she shakes it off.

“Yes, total mistake on my part. Regret it completely,” Lena lies. It’s easier if they forget the kiss ever happened.

“It didn’t feel like a mistake, Lena,” Kara says and Lena hates that Kara is right. 

“Well, it was, okay? So, can we not bring it up ever again?”

“Why? Because you kissing me means you admit that you fell for me? Are you scared to bear the full cost?”

At the mention of the bet, Lena takes a good look at Kara, “Is that what this has been about?”

“What?”

“This is all just a game for you, isn’t it?” Lena asks and fights against the tears that are threatening to fall.

“No, Lena, I didn’t mean—”

Lena cuts Kara off and shakes her head, “I’m so stupid.”

“Lena, wait.”

“Have fun with your lamb chop, Danvers.”

When Lena closes the door on Kara, she slides down her door and breaks down. Of course. Kara only cares about the bet, always has been, since the day Lena fell. Kara told her she’s not looking for a relationship, and Lena knows this. She feels stupid to even have a slight flicker of hope that Kara Danvers could actually be someone she sees herself with.

“Lena, open up,” Kara yells as she knocks on the door over and over again. Lena closes her eyes and tries to ignore it.

“Damn it, Lena,” Kara curses and Lena could hear a rummaging noise of keys. When her door opens again, her body resting against the door makes it hard for Kara to actually open it.

“Are you leaning against the door? What are you doing?” Kara cries out.

“What are _you_ doing!? Go away!” Lena yells back while trying to wipe away her tears.

“I have your keys, remember?”

“Well, it’s for emergencies. Not trespassing! Go away, Danvers!”

“Are you crying? Lena, just let me explain!”

They continue to wrestle for dominance of the door, and Lena hates how unbelievably strong Kara is. After a minute of struggle, Kara manages to open it and invites herself in. When Kara sees Lena’s groceries on the floor, she picks up the six-packs of beer and smiles, “You got me beers? You shouldn’t have.”

“What do you want, Danvers?” Lena sniffs and wipes away whatever trace of tears from her eyes.

“Stop calling me that. Why are you not calling me by my name?”

“That’s your name, right? Danvers.”

“Not when it’s coming from you like that. It sounds hateful.”

“Well, I kinda hate you right now.”

Kara comes closer to Lena but Lena takes a step back, “You didn’t seem to hate me last night.”

“Look, can we forget about the kiss? Please?”

“I can’t, Lena. It’s all I think about. I like you.”

At Kara’s confession, Lena takes a closer look at Kara’s face. She can’t believe what she’s hearing.

“You know, out of all your jokes, this is the least funny.”

Kara laughs a little and takes a step forward, this time Lena doesn’t move, “I’m being so real with you right now. I’m not even joking in the slightest. I can’t pretend the kiss didn’t happen when it meant something for me last night.”

“You have other non-girlfriends, hell, you have one downstairs right now, Danvers.”

“Stop calling me that. And the one downstairs right now is—"

"No, I don't want to hear whatever justifications or excuses you have right now,” Lena stops her, she can’t bear to hear anything about lamb chop right now, “I know you're not looking for a relationship, so just let me walk away. You have your non-girlfriends to be with."

"So what if I have a lot of non-girlfriends or experience or whatever? What a load of shit does that even do when I don’t even have the courage to tell a girl that I like her.”

Kara comes to Lena even closer and takes her hands in hers. Lena looks down and basks in the comfort of Kara’s grasp, as she looks back up to Kara, “You really like me?”

“I do.”

“But- but you’re Kara Danvers, you don’t do feelings… or relationships.”

“I know,” Kara smiles, “but _you_ make me want to do all that. If you would have me, I would love to prove it to you.” 

“I don’t want to be just one of your non-girlfriend.”

“I don't want you to be my non-girlfriend, Lena! I want you to be my _girlfriend_ girlfriend. I want you back downstairs, back in our home. Damn it, Lena, you turned my apartment into a home and I don’t want to sit in it all alone. I want us to say good night to each other every night, and kiss you good morning when you wake up. I want you to yell at me when I can't find the pasta strainer, or my blue mug. I want you to paste post-it notes all over our home telling me what to do. I want you to call me out on my shit and cheer me up when I'm down. And I want to be there for you to cheer you up too. I want to make you happy, God, Lena, I want to make you so happy I never want to see you sad ever again. I want to make jokes and make you laugh everyday. I want to love you so much you will never think you're alone ever again. I want to kiss you, Lena, I want to kiss you so bad, I don't want to kiss anyone else ever again, that's how bad I want to kiss you. I want you back in my life. Because it's meaningless without you in it.”

“So, what does this mean? You want me?”

“You didn’t get that from my long confession?”

Lena laughs and Kara touches her face, wiping away the stain of tears from Lena’s cheek. At the touch, Lena kisses the inside of Kara’s palm lightly. She’s still in disbelief that Kara Danvers wants her, truly wants her.

“You’re Kara Danvers, you don’t fall for anyone.”

“And yet I’ve fallen for you, and I keep falling every single day.” 

“You really want to be with me?” 

“I want this, more than I ever want anything in my life. I want you. For the first time in life, I don’t want to let this go, Lena.” 

“I thought you said you don’t want to be in a relationship because you don’t want to get hurt.”

“I would go through a million kinds of hurt if it meant I could spend one more moment together with you.”

“What if we get sick of each other?”

“We’re already sick of each other,” Kara teased playfully.

“What if—”

“Hey,” Kara holds Lena’s face up gently so that she’s looking right at her, “No more what ifs. No more doubts. I just know right now, I want to be together with you. And I know I said I’m scared of being hurt but if I get to be with you? That’s something I’m willing to risk.”

She brings Lena in for a tight hug and whispers, “I don’t know how to do this, Lena, this relationship stuff. But I know I want you. And I know I won’t hurt you. So please say you want me back.”

Lena brings her hands up and hugs Kara back, “I want you too.”

When Kara breaks the hug she blindly reaches her back pocket looking for something.

“Are you proposing?” Lena asks.

“Jesus, one step at a time, Lena,” Kara replies nervously and Lena just smiles.

Kara finds what she’s looking for and takes out a white envelope from her back pocket and gives it to Lena.

“What is this?”

“The full cost, well not really full, I didn’t have time to gather up enough money yet.”

“What?” Lena looks at Kara and opens the envelope. It is filled with crisp hundred dollar bills, along with some change, loose coins, and a ticket stub?

“Where did you get this money?”

“I sold my car,” Kara shrugs.

“You what??”

"You win. So, I sold my car.”

Lena hits Kara’s chest, a bit too hard as Kara stumbles to the back with every hit, “You’re so stupid, do you know that? So so stupid!”

“Ow, that really hurts!”

“Good! How much is this? I can’t believe someone bought your car for almost three thousand bucks.”

“Actually, two thousand.”

“What?”

“I borrowed 600 bucks from Alex.”

Lena looks at Kara in disbelief as Kara continues, “And 200 bucks from Sam, a few hundred from Eve, and a few hundred from Lucy.”

“Oh my God, Kara!”

“Also, a kind stranger gave me 5 bucks when I realized I didn’t have money for the bus”.

“Please give them all their money back,” Lena says as she shoves back the envelope to Kara.

“But I lost the bet.”

“No, you didn’t. I lost.”

“What?”

Lena goes to her drawer and takes out a cheque. When Kara looks at it, it’s a cheque for her with the amount of $2500, dated a few weeks back.

“I had this, for a while. I just didn’t want to admit it too.”

Kara smiles with a hint of tears in her eyes, “So we both lost?”

“Seems like it.”

Kara leans in and kisses Lena, the happiest she ever felt in a while. Lena kisses just like how Kara remembers, except this time with their feelings fully out in the open, and Kara kisses back with a purpose. Kara pulls Lena in and holds her tightly, as she smiles against the kiss, “I have a _girlfriend_ girlfriend now.”

“Idiot,” Lena smiles back and kisses Kara one more time.

Even though she lost her original bet, Kara feels like she won everything.

As they keep kissing, Lena hears a thud from downstairs and Kara’s immediate angry reaction startled her.

“Shut up, already! We’re coming down!”

“Why are we going down to see lamb chop?”

“I’ve been trying to tell you, lamb chop is not with me. After you left, I sent her away to Sam's house. I'm done with non-girlfriends.”

“Then who was the one laughing with you?”

A smile creeps up Kara’s face, “Were you jealous? Alex dropped by.”

“What? Alex is here and you didn't tell me!”

“I’ve been trying to tell you!”

Lena takes Kara’s hands and grins, “Let’s go, I wanna see my favorite Danvers.”

“I'm right here,” Kara says dryly and Lena smiles.

“You’re my third favorite.”

“I’m third??”

“Your mom is my second favorite Danvers.”

“Honestly, that is so rude.”

Lena smiles at Kara and kisses her again, and Kara can’t help but to smile back, “If this is how you treat your third favorite Danvers, I’m not complaining.”

\--

“Are you two kids together yet?” Alex asks in an annoyed tone when Kara and Lena walk hand in hand into the apartment.

“I think we are?” Lena asks Kara and Kara smiles back fondly, “We are, yeah.”

“Finally, you know, this one was on the phone last night crying and asking me what to do. Going all _waaah Alex, waaah Lena kissed me, waaah_ ,” Alex informs Lena and makes wild crying gestures.

“Shut up, Alex!!”

As Kara and Alex continue their verbal fighting, which Lena has now found that it is also one of their weird ways they show each other their love, Lena doesn’t know how to process the genuine happiness she feels right now. So she lunges forward and hugs Kara from behind, as Alex looks at her fondly and pats her head.

“I’m happy for you, Little Lee.”

\--

“What is her real name anyway?” Lena asks as they’re tangled up together on Kara’s couch, while waiting for Alex to come back with lunch.

“Who?”

“Lamb chop.”

“Honestly? I forgot. I think it starts with an S… or an F.”

“You’re the worst, Danvers,” Lena says in a shocked tone and slaps Kara’s chest lightly.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Kara laughs as she blocks all of Lena’s hits with her arms.

“What do you want me to call you then?”

“Anything except that, pumpkin,” Kara grins as she gives Lena a quick kiss. Kara finds herself wanting to kiss Lena all the time.

“I’m not giving you a food nickname.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll call you Kara then.”

“So creative.”

“Fine, I’ll call you lamb chop.”

“Please don’t.”

“How about darling?”

“I love that.”

“Hi, darling.”

“Hi, pumpkin.”

They smile at each other and give more tiny kisses.

“I can’t stop kissing you,” Kara smiles.

“Mmm, same.”

“I don’t even care that I don’t have a car right now.”

At the mention of Kara’s beat-up-wreck-of-a-car, Lena remembers, “I still can’t believe you sold your car. Have you told Alex you’ll give her her money back? And the three musketeers?”

“Those three dumbos owe me money for the emotional distress they caused me last night and yes, I already gave Alex her money back, don’t worry.”

“And what’s with the ticket stub?” Lena asks as she remembers the odd piece of paper in the envelope that looks so out of place.

“It’s a ticket for Hamilton, it’s gotta be worth something.”

“It’s a ticket _stub_ , darling.”

“I’ll sell it on eBay and you’ll see.”

“No one is going to bid on it.”

“Wanna bet?” Kara asks and Lena’s face changes, “Oh, too soon?”

“Idiot,” Lena replies with a shake of a head and a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's soft domestic supercorp from here on out kids you deserve this 💓


	22. whiskey

There’s one thing that Lena notices after Kara becomes her girlfriend. Kara as a roommate is sweet, and caring, and kind. Kara as a girlfriend is all that and, for the lack of a better word, handsy. Lena can’t remember the last time someone touches and kisses her so much as Kara. In fact, no one ever did. Even when she was with Jack, he didn’t show this much affection to Lena. It’s thrilling to know that someone wants you so badly, every hour, every minute. But for Lena, it’s also really really embarrassing. Lena is very reserved and private about her love life, while Kara is the complete opposite. That is why Lena has turned red at the fact that Kara is now standing on top of a chair in Eve’s froyo shop, declaring to everyone that Lena is her girlfriend.

“Spread the word! Kara Danvers is taken! I’m dating Lena Luthor!”

“Kara, get down!” Lena yells as she pulls the hems of Kara’s pants. 

“Are you parading Lena all over National City?” Eve asks as she puts down two cups of froyo in front of them.

“I want to tell everyone that I have a girlfriend!” Kara smiles widely as she can’t contain her happiness, “We’re going to Sam’s store next!”

“What did I get myself into, Eve?” Lena looks at Eve, asking for help with her eyes.

“You’re secretly loving this,” Eve replies with a smirk.

Kara kisses Lena on the side of her head at Eve’s reply and Lena smiles at the gesture, “Yeah, I am.”

\--

“Do you think I should get a cow?” Kara asks as she browses the newspaper while she waits for Lena to prepare their lunch. Lena is just chopping vegetables for their salad, which Kara has agreed to eat as long as Lena adds extra bacon bits in hers.

“You still have the money you got from selling your car, right? Are you thinking of getting a used one or brand new?”

“It doesn't say if this is a used cow or brand new.”

At the mention of the word again, Lena pauses, “Darling.”

“Yes, pumpkin?”

She stops chopping and turns around to look Kara in the eyes, “Did you say cow or is that how you pronounce car?”

“Cow,” Kara replies nonchalantly. 

“The animal?”

“Yes.”

"Kara Danvers," Lena sighs as she can't believe she has to actually say this out loud, "please don't get a cow."

"Why? I can ride it to work. Plus, free milk!" Kara exclaims excitedly as she tries to justify her need for a cow.

"Where are you even going to put it!?"

Kara seems to enjoy Lena’s scolding as she puts down the newspaper and walks over closer to Lena, "We still have my parking spot."

“How are you even going to keep it in place? It’s a freakin’ cow!”

Kara comes even closer with a huge grin on her face, “I’ll train it. How hard can it be?”

"No! It’s not a dog. We're not getting a cow!"

Now Kara has her hands on Lena’s waist as she pulls her in closer, “Tell me more why I can't get a cow.”

“Are you seriously turned on by this?” 

“Mmhmm,” Kara replies as she gives Lena a kiss, and runs her hands up and down Lena’s back, slowly kissing down to Lena’s neck.

Lena tries to fight an indecent moan that’s about to be let out, “I’m holding a knife. Back away, Kara Danvers.”

“Okay, okay,” Kara says with a teasing smile as she raises both her hands up and walks away.

God, Lena is secretly loving all of this.

\--

“Why can't you sleep here? You're my girlfriend,” Kara pouts.

Every time Kara mentions that word, Lena's heart skips a beat. Girlfriend. 

“I have my own apartment, thank you very much. Plus, all you want to do is kiss me.”

“Because you are my girlfriend.”

 _Girlfriend._ Lena tries to fight back a smile and pretends to be strong to resist the temptation that is Kara Danvers, “I have to get up early for work tomorrow.”

“I won't keep you up. Scout’s honor,” Kara raises her right hand and puts up three fingers.

“You’re not a scout,” Lena smiles, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, darling.” 

Kara gives her girlfriend a good night kiss and bids her farewell, “Goodnight, pumpkin. Dream of me.”

“Always.”

\--

“What’s wrong?” Kara asks when she steps inside the apartment and Lena is pacing back and forth in the living room while reading from cue cards.

“Andrea wants me to lead the budget meeting tomorrow. I have to convince investors to give us money for our latest research,” Lena looks back at Kara worriedly.

“So? You’ve led presentations before.”

“No, Lex led presentations before. I’m more of a… working behind the scenes kind of girl.”

“Do you want to practice?” 

“What?”

“Practice. Do it with me, pretend I’m some rich investor,” Kara tells Lena as she sits on the couch, “okay, pitch me your research.”

“Okay,” Lena calms down and takes a deep breath and looks down at her cards, “Hello everyone, I’m Lena Luthor.”

“Why are you reading from the cards? It’s your name.”

“But what if I forget? Uhhhh…” Lena squats down and holds her stomach.

“Okay, okay, come here,” Kara holds Lena up and brings her to the couch, “it’s just your nerves.”

Lena hugs Kara tight and closes her eyes. It comforts her that she could hold Kara close like this without any reservations.

“You got this, okay? Let’s try without the cards, you already know your stuff.”

“No, I want to stay like this forever,” Lena says and hugs Kara tighter.

“Then, I’ll follow you into the budget meeting like this and you have to explain to your investors why you’re hugging your girlfriend throughout the presentation.”

“I’ll tell them it’s necessary for the research.”

“Hugging me is necessary for the research to optimize functionality in nanotechnology devices?”

Lena lets go of their hug and stares at Kara, “You know what I do? But you always have a glazed look whenever I talk about work.”

“I might not understand your work,” Kara kisses Lena, “but I will always listen to whatever you talk about.”

“Let’s practice. Ready? Ditch the cards,” Kara takes the cards away from Lena and Lena stands up to give her presentation.

“Hello... everyone,” Lena says awkwardly, it was like watching a robot trying to form words.

Kara raises her eyebrows at Lena and tries hard not to laugh, “Okay, just, more relaxed.”

“Hello.”

“Too stiff.”

“Hello!”

“Too loud.”

“Hello~”

“What the hell was that?”

“I don't know what you want me to do!”

“Just act like a normal human being,” Kara stands up next to Lena and gives an example, “Hello.”

“Hell...low.”

“Oh boy.”

“Please help me,” Lena hugs Kara again.

“Look, here’s what I do before I pitch an article and have to talk in front of people. Just shake off those nerves, come on,” Kara urges Lena to follow as she shakes her hands and wiggles her body.

“What are you doing?” Lena examines her girlfriend who looks like she’s possessed. 

“We’re shaking our nerves away,” Kara grabs Lena’s hands and shakes it for her, “join me.”

So, Lena does. She shakes and wiggles her nerves away, laughing and giggling along with Kara. It feels silly doing this in their living room, but doing silly things with Kara was just the thing that Lena needed to forget about her nerves.

\--

“So, can you justify why we need to invest in this early-staged applied research?”

“Good question,” Lena says and follows up with a whisper, “really good question, darling,”

“I know right? I feel like a real investor," Kara smiles gleefully and then leans back on the couch pretending she's an investor listening to Lena's pitch.

“It’s important to fund at the early stage to advance our ability to control matter at the nanoscale level. As you can see in the budget breakdown here, your investment will be fully channeled to our R&D department as well as help us secure the patents and prototypes of future nanotechnology that will be developed in our labs.”

“You convinced me! Here, have all my money!” Kara pretends to shower Lena with her imaginary dollar bills.

“If only it was that easy,” Lena laughs as she sits back down on the couch and hugs Kara.

“You’ll do great. Just pretend it’s a room full of me.”

“Why do I feel so stressed out at the image of that?” Lena laughs a little and imagines how it would really be like if there’s a room full of Karas.

Kara gazes at Lena as she gives her a few kisses, arm wrapping around Lena’s waist.

“Stay over tonight,” Kara murmurs in between kisses.

“You would love that,” Lena smiles against Kara’s lips.

“You're killing me, Lena Luthor,” Kara laughs.

“Drama queen.”

\--

"What's going on?" Lena rubs her eyes and asks Kara, who is in her kitchen right now making breakfast.

"I'm making you a good luck breakfast. You know, for your budget meeting today."

As Kara is flipping pancakes, Lena hugs her from behind, "I'd love good luck breakfast."

Kara turns around, and gives Lena a quick kiss. When Lena leans in for more, Kara pulls back, "Morning breath. Go brush your teeth."

"Kiss me!" Lena smiles wider and leans in more, but Kara swiftly ducks in between Lena’s arms and runs away, "You can't make me!"

Lena spends her morning chasing her girlfriend in her apartment. She can’t remember the last time she feels this carefree and happy.

\--

“You already made me good luck breakfast,” Lena says when she meets Kara in the nearby park next to her office building.

“This is good luck lunch,” Kara grins as she shows her the takeout from Big Belly Burger.

“The meeting was this morning,” Lena informs her and laughs a little.

“This is ‘hope you get your budget approved’ lunch?” Kara gives a half shrug.

“Idiot.”

They sat on the bench and ate their lunch together that day, laughing and making jokes about pretend conversations the pigeons in front of them are having.

“Will you be making good luck dinner as well tonight?” 

“What are you thinking?”

Lena leans her head on Kara’s shoulder, “Anything, as long as it’s with you.”

\--

“We got the budget approved!”

“That’s amazing! What did I tell you?” Kara runs over to Lena and gives her a huge hug, almost making Lena stumble over backwards because of it.

They share a kiss and Lena laughs a little into the kiss and shows Kara what’s in her bag, “Guess what Andrea got me to celebrate our approval.”

“If it’s alcohol, tell Andrea she made the right choice.”

“Since you helped me with my presentation, I figured I share the wealth,” she smiles as she brings out the bottle of whiskey.

Kara opens the cabinet one by one and Lena interrupts her, “Whiskey glasses are in C2, darling.”

Kara smiles at the instruction, she loves when Lena just knows what she’s looking for.

Kara pours out the whiskey for both her and Lena and toasts, “To rich investors.”

“To rich investors!”

They eat their roast chicken dinner and drink a few glasses of their whiskey while Lena tells Kara about her day, and Kara tells Lena about hers.

As Kara pours another shot, Lena laughs a little, “Don’t finish the whole bottle tonight, darling.”

“Let’s play a game,” Kara smiles slyly as she pours Lena a shot too.

“What game?”

“Whoever blinks has to drink,” Kara raises a glass and passes it to Lena, “you lost. You just blinked.”

“Wait, what? I didn’t know the game had already started! That’s not fair!”

“Drink, pumpkin.”

Lena grunts with a loud _hmph_ and downs the shot. When Kara pours her another glass, she stares Kara in the eyes, determined not to blink.

Her determination was useless when Kara starts to make weird faces and Lena laughs.

“You blinked.”

“Not fair, you made me laugh,” Lena pouts as she finishes her shot and Kara pours her another one.

“All is fair in the blinking game.”

“Are you getting me drunk?”

“Not my fault you’re so bad at this game.”

When they resume staring at each other, Lena blows a short puff of air into Kara’s eyes.

“Hey!”

“You blinked,” Lena giggles.

“You blew air right into my eyes? Hello?”

“All is fair in the blinking game.”

When Kara finishes her drink, this time it was Lena who poured her a new one, and they both continue to stare at each other.

“You look like you’re about to cry,” Lena tells her girlfriend who has watery eyes due to holding them open for so long.

“I can cry without blinking,” Kara informs her.

“I’m not going to lose this round.”

“Me neither.”

They’ve been at it for more than a minute and both are close to tears.

“You look like you wanna kiss me,” Lena whispers, “I won’t mind.”

At her words, Kara closes her eyes and leans in, only to feel a finger on her lips stopping her. When she opens her eyes, Lena is grinning endlessly, “You blinked.”

“You…..” Kara grits her teeth and drinks her shot. Kara didn't have any balls, but if she did, she bet they'd be blue at this very moment.

Lena brings her stool closer to Kara and has her knee in between Kara’s legs, “You really want to kiss me?”

“I want to kiss you all over.”

Lena leans closer and presses one soft kiss on Kara’s lips. One turned into two, two into three, and soon they’re both making out in the kitchen, their kisses hot and filled with intention.

Kara runs her lips down Lena’s jawline and kisses her neck, slowly and softly. This time Lena didn’t mask her sharp little noise and at the sound of Lena’s moan, Kara’s kisses gets more frantic and she brings herself up back to Lena’s lips.

Breathless, Kara asks, “Stay over tonight?”

Lena nods and nothing more needs to be said as Kara picks Lena up and carries her over to the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara is so thirsty lol also next prompt is undress so…… 👀👀👀


	23. undress

Kara is strong. Lena knows this but it's so apparent when Kara scoops her off the ground and easily carries her over to their bed. Lena squeals a little as she tightens her arms around Kara’s neck for support. When Kara places her gently on the bed she grips on Kara's biceps to steady herself. Even the feel of Kara's muscle is turning her on. 

Kara continues kissing her, while her hands blindly unbuttons Lena's shirt. Kara kisses Lena all the time but never like this. Lena notices how the kisses slowly get more frantic and intense, as Kara keeps unbuttoning her shirt. It feels like Kara really _wants_ her. When Kara unbuttons everything, Lena sits up and takes off her shirt and continues kissing Kara. With a swift move Kara takes off her own t-shirt and pushes Lena down, and Lena eyes her girlfriend in her lacy brassiere. 

Kara traces down Lena’s jawline with her lips and slowly kisses her neck. Lena could feel that Kara is biting her, not too hard, just enough to feel the impression of Kara's teeth on her neck and Lena unintentionally moans. She can feel Kara's smug smile against her neck after making the noise.

Lena feels like every single sensation she has is heightened. Kara's hands on her, touching her, feeling her. Kara's mouth on her body, wanting her, needing her. Lena enjoys the feeling. She enjoys the pool of arousal that is forming in her groin as Kara continues making her way down.

Suddenly, Lena can't help but wonder how Kara is so good at this. No, she didn't have to wonder, she _knows_ why Kara is so good at this. And just like that Lena gets acutely aware of everything that is going on. She’s aware of how Kara’s lips are moving from her collarbone down to her stomach as she continues kissing and makes her way further down. She’s aware of how Kara has one hand underneath her bra, and the other underneath Lena’s skirt.

When Kara’s hand slides up in between Lena’s leg, that is when Lena starts to panic. The beating of her heart was fast, at first due to pleasure, and then due to the realization that it will be the first time for her and Kara. And the first time for her ever. That fact alone sends Lena into a spiral so she gets the jitters and tries to crawl her way out from under Kara. It turns into an awkward and painful bumping when Kara looks up and crashes into Lena’s head, cutting her lip with her own teeth.

“What the—” Kara cries out while she wipes away the gushing of blood with the back of her hand. Half naked, Lena just picks up her clothes and runs out of the room. All Kara could hear is a trail of _sorry, sorry, I have to go, sorry_ as she leaves.

Kara goes to the kitchen to grab a clean towel for her mouth. After making sure the blood stops, Kara dresses herself up with a hoodie she grabs off the kitchen stool. She takes a deep breath as she gathers the energy to go upstairs and check on her girlfriend.

After three knocks and no answer, Kara opens the unlocked door.

“Lena? I’m coming in.”

Kara walks over to her girlfriend who is sitting on her bed, with her head in her hands. She sits down beside Lena and rubs her back to soothe her.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s all happening so fast and I’m drunk and I’m sorry and oh my god, you're bleeding! Are you okay?? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” Lena panics when she sees the fresh cut on Kara’s lips.

“Hey, hey, shhhh,” Kara reaches out and holds Lena in her arms, “it’s okay. I'm okay.” 

“I’m sorry,” Lena mumbles into Kara’s chest.

Kara kisses the top of Lena’s head and winces a bit as the cut on her lip brushes with Lena's hair, “Don’t ever apologize for this, okay?” 

“I’m sor—”

“What did I just say?”

“It’s not like I don’t want to, but it was too much and too fast and—”

“It's okay.” 

When Lena starts crying, Kara just lets her while she rubs small circles on Lena’s back to calm her down. Kara gently threads her fingers in Lena’s hair, and softly pulls away her messy hair from her face. 

As she wipes away Lena’s tears Kara comforts her, “Listen, if you feel like I am moving too fast on you, just tell me next time. I can handle it.” 

Lena hugs Kara tighter and begs, “Please don’t leave me.”

“Is that why you're crying? I won’t, silly. This is not a dealbreaker for me,” Kara smiles and kisses Lena on top of her head again, even when she knows it hurts her lips a little.

“Question.”

“Okay.”

“What’s a dealbreaker for you?”

“With you? I don't think there's any, to be honest.”

“What if I shoot animals for fun?”

“Then I'll help you load the gun,” Kara laughs a little as she jokingly answers Lena’s made up scenario.

“What if I’m a murderer?”

“Then I’ll help you hide the bodies.”

“What if I’m a cannibal?”

“Are all your hypotheticals this gory?” Kara laughs.

Lena carefully extracts herself from Kara’s embrace and looks at her, “What if I’m bad at bowling?”

“Oh yeah, that’s a huge turn off,” Kara answers in a serious tone.

“Idiot,” Lena smiles finally and Kara smiles back.

“Are you okay now?” Kara asks as she runs her thumb on Lena’s cheek, wiping away the last trace of her tears.

“I’m just embarrassed.” 

“Don’t be. It’s all good. We can take it slow. Or we can never do it, if that’s what you want.”

“Well, not never. But slow sounds perfect.”

“Slow it is then,” Kara pulls Lena in for a hug and holds her close, “And don't be scared to tell me all this, okay? I would never force you to do anything you don't want to do.”

“Okay.”

“Plus, I don't want another cut lip.”

Lena looks up at Kara and tenderly touches the outer area of her lips, careful not to touch the cut, “Are you really okay? It looks bad.”

“It's just a cut, apparently my girlfriend is into some headbutt fetish.”

“Says the person who has a biting fetish,” Lena scolds as she touches the part of her neck that Kara was gently biting earlier, “What are you? A vampire?”

“It's just… grr... “ Kara nuzzles Lena’s neck with her nose, “your neck makes me wanna do wild things to you.”

“Do I have to wear a turtleneck around you?”

“You can cover yourself from head to toe, I'll rip it all off.”

At Kara’s answer, Lena gets shy all over again, “How are you so good at this? I'm sorry I'm so bad at this.”

“Hey, no apologies, remember? And I'm no good at this as much as you are.”

Lena sits up properly now and studies Kara with her eyes, “Liar.”

“It might be the first time for you, but it's also the first time for me _with_ you. It takes time to learn everything about each other. I will have my awkward moments just like you did today. So don't beat yourself up too much.”

“Really?”

“Really. And we don't have to go all the way if you don't want to yet. You’re ready when you’re ready. When you are, have faith that I’ll be here waiting.”

“You will? Even if I make you wait a hundred years?”

“Even when our boobs are sagging on the floor.”

Lena laughs at Kara’s answer and Kara adds, “Hot, right?”

"Very."

“I'll leave you alone, okay?” Kara gives a few comforting taps on Lena’s thighs before she stands up but Lena grabs Kara’s hand quickly, “No, stay. Please.”

Kara sits back down on Lena’s bed and nods.

“Just… stay.”

“Okay, we don’t have to do anything else tonight.”

“Thank you.”

They lie down in bed, with Kara cuddling Lena close to her. 

“Are you sure you're fine with this?” Lena asks again.

“I'm fine as long as you're with me. That's all that matters. I'll wait,” Kara gives her a tight squeeze as she answers. The warmth of Kara’s body spreads to Lena’s chest, as she feels content by how much Kara really cares for her. 

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I still feel embarrassed.” 

“You want to know something funny? Something embarrassing happened to me recently.”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when you told me about the garden? After your farewell party?”

“Mmhm.”

“At the time, I thought you wanted to have sex with me.”

“What?” Lena looks at Kara, “How did you get sex from that?”

“I thought the garden was your… you know,” Kara points with her eyes and Lena gives a confused look.

“My what?”

“Your _garden_ ,” Kara emphasizes on the word again and points downwards with her eyes.

“I don’t get it.”

“Your lady parts.”

“My what?? You thought the garden was my... _vagina_?” Lena shouts and then says it softly as if there’s people around that could hear her, “Why would I talk about my vagina with you??” Lena looks at her girlfriend with more confusion.

“I don’t know, you were talking about trimming it and cleaning it…”

“Oh my God, you’re ridiculous.”

“And then you went on and on about planting, and wanting to plant on the balcony…”

“Wait, so when you said you want to do planting in bed…”

“Please don’t remind me,” Kara brings her hands up to her face and covers it. She turns red at the memory.

“You are so stupid, I love you,” Lena laughs a little and then stops when she realized what she just blurted out.

Kara takes a peek at Lena in between her fingers and she could see Lena panicking.

“Oh, God, that just came out. You don’t have to say it back. Please don’t feel like you have to say it back.”

Lena closes her eyes anticipating what Kara would say next. She has been tiptoeing around Kara with their whole relationship, making sure Kara doesn’t feel too pressured to be committed in her first real relationship ever. Lena was sure Kara would get up from the bed and bolt instantly. Instead, Kara just smiles widely at Lena and replies, “I love you too.”

Lena gets teary eyed at Kara’s response, “You do?”

“I think I have been for a while.”

Kara leans in for a kiss and then flinches when the kiss hurts her, “Ah, ow.”

“Looks like you have to take a break from kissing me.”

“Never,” Kara comes closer to give her more kisses but Lena stops her, “Stop! It’ll keep bleeding.”

Kara lies back in bed and crosses her arms, unsatisfied that the cut on her lips is preventing her from showering Lena with kisses.

“Don’t move, okay?” Lena whispers to Kara and climbs on top of her. She gently and softly kisses every part of Kara’s face, starting with her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, the corners of her mouth, being mindful to avoid Kara’s injury on her lips. 

“I could stay like this forever,” Kara smirks.

“Thank you,” Lena says as she gives a last kiss on Kara’s cheek and lays back down in her arms.

“For what?”

“Everything.”

Kara gives a tight hug and they just lie there in Lena’s bed, basking in the comfort of each other’s presence.

When Lena could feel Kara’s body shaking because she’s trying to stifle a laughter she asks, “What’s so funny?”

“I realized I’ve never slept in your bed before. It's so much more comfortable than mine. Why are we always downstairs?”

\--

“What’s the occasion?”

Kara walks over to the kitchen island and eyes the takeout dinner from her favorite Chinese restaurant. 

“It’s a ‘thank you for waiting’ dinner,” Lena grabs Kara’s waist and gives her a peck on her cheek, “how’s your lip?”

“Healing,” Kara replies, “oh, do I get this kind of dinner for each day that I wait? I won’t mind.”

“No, just tonight,” Lena giggles and pinches Kara’s nose.

Kara stares at Lena fondly, “I love you, pumpkin.”

“I love you, darling.”

\--

“Can you stop?” Lena scolds Kara who keeps rolling around in her bed. She finds it hard to concentrate on her book with Kara shifting beside her.

“No but seriously, your bed is so comfortable, I could sleep here all day,” Kara rolls over and lays on her stomach as she props herself with her hands and looks at Lena.

“It better be, it’s one of the few things I got to keep from the mansion.”

“You let them take all your clothes, your shoes, your handbags, your jewelries, but not the bed?”

“Priorities, I know,” Lena laughs a little.

Kara crawls over to Lena and lays her head on Lena’s lap. Lena continues reading her book with Kara resting on her. When she finishes a chapter, Lena notices that Kara has fallen asleep in her lap. She wants to wake her up and make her sleep properly in bed but Kara looks so peaceful, Lena finds it hard to disturb her. She softly runs a finger on Kara’s cheeks and Kara stirs in her sleep but leans into Lena’s touch. Lena’s heart flutters at the gesture.

She continues to read a few more chapters of her book and lets Kara rest longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when you come here for the smut but you get a soft scene instead sajskjskdjla sorry


	24. cold

“You’re being a bit much,” Kara frowns at Lena who is wearing a full body protection suit complete with a shield mask.

“I cannot afford to get sick! I have an important meeting!” Lena explains her suit while she puts down a bowl of chicken soup on the nightstand for Kara. 

When Kara starts coughing, Lena flinches and runs away. Kara just smiles at the way her girlfriend is avoiding her like she has the plague, “It’s just a common cold.”

Lena grabs the medicine and carefully places it next to the bowl of soup, “I’m going to work now. Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Go,” Kara says weakly as she tries hard to hold a sneeze. She looks around for the box of tissue but couldn’t find it in time and just lets out a huge sneeze.

“Oh, jeez, I have to sanitize this whole apartment later,” Lena comments as she gently pushes the tissue box to Kara.

“Thanks. Have a great day at work, I love you.”

“K.”

“K? Not even an okay? And where’s my goodbye kiss?” Kara asks as she puckers up her lips.

“You're sick! I'm not kissing you.”

“But I love you. I truly love you. I think the universe of you. I think without realizing it, I've been in love with you for the longest time.”

“Nope, I’m still not kissing you. Rest well, darling. Don’t forget to eat before you take your medicine!” Lena shouts as she exits the apartment.

After she left, Kara just smiles and shakes her head at her girlfriend’s amusing behaviour. 

Kara gathers up her energy to eat her chicken soup that Lena prepared for her but she couldn’t find the appetite for it. After eating just two spoonfuls, she grabs her medicine and swallows a few pills, hoping she can just sleep it off.

* * *

When Kara wakes up, she finds herself in Lena’s lap while Lena dabs her forehead with a cool towel. She’s not wearing her full protection suit anymore, but just a face mask.

“Hey, you’re back.”

“Yeah. Why are you shirtless?”

Kara looks down at her topless figure as she tries to remember, “I think I was sweating too much, I can’t sleep.”

“You’re burning up. Do you want to go to the hospital?”

“It’s fine. I just need to rest,” Kara looks at the clock on the wall, “you’re back early.”

“I came as soon as my meeting was over, took the day off,” Lena says as she gently combs Kara’s hair with her fingers, her attempt at trying to cool her down.

“You didn’t have to. I’ll just be sleeping the whole day.”

“I want to. Did you eat?”

“Not hungry.”

“You have to eat. I’ll feed it to you, okay?”

Lena carefully slides out of bed and takes the bowl of soup to reheat it. She could hear Kara coughing and blowing her nose from the kitchen.

“Darling, I’ve placed the trash can next to the bed, don’t throw it!” Lena yells out as she knows Kara will blindly throw it to the area where the trash can used to be. 

“Too late!” Kara yells back with a hoarse voice, “I didn’t see the trash can, sorry!”

As Lena carefully brings back the warm bowl of soup to Kara she says, “You’re lucky I love you. Come here, sit up.”

As Kara sits up, Lena picks up Kara’s t-shirt from the floor to dress her topless girlfriend, “Wear this, come on.”

“I feel so hot, I don’t want to.”

"If you're hot, why were you covered under all those blankets?"

"I was hot and cold at the same time," Kara pouts. Lena just smiles at how Kara is acting like a child much more than usual.

“Okay, come on. Let’s get some food in you.”

Kara’s appetite seems to come back with every spoonful Lena feeds her. Kara just stares at Lena every time she carefully blows on the soup before feeding her. And when she thinks back on how Lena got home after her big meeting, how she was tending to Kara while she was sleeping earlier, how Lena is taking care of her right now, she tries to fight back the tears that are welling up in her eyes.

“Oh my God,” Lena cries out, “why are you crying? Are you in pain?”

“I just feel so full at the moment.”

“Because of the soup?”

“No, silly, I just feel so full of love. I love you so much. I don’t know, I just feel like crying because I love you so much.”

“Wow, you’re really sick. Let’s finish this soup.”

“Really? Nothing? I just poured my heart and soul to you.”

“Did you really? Because with you, sometimes I can't tell if you're joking or not.”

“I’m not trying to kiss you. I just want to let you know that I love you,” Kara laughs lightly. It’s partly her fault for pulling pranks on Lena so much that her genuine declaration of love moment is overshadowed with doubt. 

“And no, it's not because you're taking care of me right now. I just want you to know I cherish you so much. I’m so glad out of the people in National City, you were the one that fell into my apartment. I can’t imagine my life without loving you.”

“I love you too,” Lena smiles and Kara can tell she was smiling even under the mask.

After Kara finishes her soup and takes her medicine, Lena tucks her in and pulls down her face mask to give Kara a kiss.

“I thought you said you didn't want to kiss me. You'll catch the cold.”

“I'll risk it.”

* * *

“That was not worth the risk!” Lena sneezes and blows her nose. 

Now Kara is the one tending to her and bringing over food and medicine. She tries to cheer Lena up with a joke, “Do you know how to get over a cold?”

Lena doesn’t answer but just gives a pointed look to Kara so Kara says her punchline quickly, “You go out and find yourself a younger and hotter cold.”

“You better leave me right now before I strangle you.”

“Okay, tough crowd. Jeez.”

Kara double checks her luggage and Lena reminds her, “Did you pack your recorder?”

“Yup, all here.”

Kara walks over to Lena to give her a goodbye kiss but Lena avoids it, “Don’t. You’ll get sick again.”

“You got this from me. I’ve developed antibodies for it so I won’t get sick.”

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“I won’t see you for two days, please let me kiss you.”

“On the forehead, then. I really don't want you to get sick again. This interview is important to you.”

Kara grabs Lena’s head and gives her a big smooch on her forehead.

“Salty,” Kara comments as she licks her lips and Lena just rolls her eyes at her girlfriend’s idiocy.

See, that's the thing about Kara Danvers. She might be childish, a prankster, good with the ladies, clumsy, idiotic at times, but she takes her work very seriously. She would never take any time off work. Lena knows how good Kara is at her job and how important it is to her. Even though right now, all Lena wants is for her girlfriend to be by her side, she would never ask for it from Kara. She would never make Kara choose between her job and her girlfriend. So Lena puts on a brave face and bids her girlfriend goodbye, even though all she wants is for Kara to stay.

That is why when she wakes up from her sleep a few hours later, Lena thinks that she is having a fever dream when she can hear Kara’s voice coming from the kitchen.

“Shut up, Alex. Just tell me what to do.”

“So how do you dice?”

“Just make it into tiny squares? It’s a carrot, how do I cut it into tiny squares?”

“You’re dumb!”

“It’s fine, I rescheduled.”

“I love her, yeah, I do.”

“Ugh, you’re like mom, stop asking about marriage.”

"She made me chicken soup."

“We’re not an old married couple!”

Lena tries to go to sleep again and ignore her fever dream. Even in her imagination, Kara is fighting with Alex and she smiles at the thought.

* * *

When Lena wakes up, she sees Kara sitting in bed next to her.

“You’re awake. Are you feeling better?”

Lena looks at Kara in confusion, “Did I sleep for 2 days?”

“I didn’t get on the plane,” Kara answers with a smile, “I couldn’t.”

“But your interview...”

“Rescheduled. My source can wait. Do you want to eat? I made something for you.”

“Okay.”

Kara gets up and goes to the kitchen. When she comes back, she has a bowl of porridge on a tray for Lena.

Lena sits up and Kara feeds her the homemade porridge she made. After the first taste, tears start to form in Lena’s eyes.

“With bits of salmon. Just like how your mom used to make,” Kara smiles when she sees that Lena recognizes her secret ingredient.

“You remembered.”

“I told you, I've been in love with you for the longest time.”

It was an offhand remark Lena had mentioned back when they went to the beach together. It felt like ages ago. Back then, Kara was just a roommate, and now she’s her girlfriend who truly loves her. Lena wonders how she got so lucky.

"If you feel hot, you can take off your pajamas," Kara says with a smirk.

"Nice try."

When Kara tries to lean in for a kiss, Lena backs away.

“I’m telling you, no one catches the same cold twice, just let me kiss you,” Kara reassures her.

“Okay...” Lena replies back warily.

They share a quick kiss, just enough to show each other their love.

* * *

Lena, in her full body suit protection gear, puts down a bowl of soup next to Kara, “Seriously. Who catches a cold twice in one week? Idiot.”

“It was worth it,” Kara smiles back weakly.


	25. day

"Is this okay?" Kara asks as she squeezes Lena's right breast.

"Is this okay?" she asks again as she squeezes the left one this time.

"Stop! You idiot," Lena laughs.

"Honk honk," Kara jokes as she gives two more squeezes.

Lena grabs ahold of Kara's face and looks at her right in the eyes, "You're so stupid, do you know that?"

"I do, but you love me for it."

"So much," Lena says as she gives Kara a kiss.

They were making out yet again and Kara wanted to be respectful so that she won't make Lena run away like last time. Well, as respectful as she can be for someone who just honked her girlfriend's breasts as a joke.

"What if we set up a safe word?" Kara proposes a solution.

"A safe word?"

"Yeah, if you mention the safe word, I'll stop what I'm doing."

"Why can't I just yell stop?"

"That's no fun. How about pineapple?"

"I don't want to yell out pineapple while we're doing it!"

"Okay, you choose."

"How about artichoke?" Lena suggests.

"No, that's no good. That turns me on."

"What? Artichokes?"

"It has the word choke in it."

Lena's cheeks blushed at Kara's admission, "Do you want to be choked or do you want to choke me?"

"Admit it, there have been some instances where you wanted to choke me," Kara smirks as she looks at Lena.

"Out of frustration, yes. That smug smile of yours is so annoying,” Lena scrunches her nose as she pushes Kara off her. 

Kara rolls around in bed as she thinks up more words, "How about kumquats?"

"Are all your words fruit related?"

"Fruits are good safe words, they just have that vibe. Oooh, how about waffles?"

"Are you suggesting more words or is that what you want to eat right now?

"Both?"

"No on the safe word, but I could use some waffles."

\--

"Fatality!" Kara shouts a bit too loud in the diner and Lena shushes her.

"Not too loud, we’re in public! Also no, we're not in Mortal Kombat. Abort?" Lena suggests. They have been going back and forth on their safe word, each one getting rejected every time by the other.

"No, that just makes me feel like I'm on a mission. Pumpernickel?"

"No, you're going back to food again. Oklahoma?"

"No, that just reminds me of the musical. Guacamole?"

"No, I told you. You're still on food. Beetlejuice?”

“What happens if we say it three times and we summon him? What then?!” Kara asks wildly as she waves her fork in the air.

“Idiot. How about we just use ‘safe word’?"

"You want our safe word to be ‘safe word’?"

"Yes?"

"And I'm the idiot."

"Shut up," Lena smiles.

As Lena stabs her waffle, her rings slide down her finger and she adjusts it.

“Wear it on your middle finger or your ring finger,” Kara says when she notices that Lena is fiddling with the ring.

“No, it won’t fit. My index finger was fine before.”

“That’s because of all the salad you eat. You should eat like me,” Kara points at her waffle.

“Whipped cream, ice cream AND syrup?” Are you sure that’s the best thing for you right now?”

“It’s amazing. Ooooh, how about ice cream?”

“No.”

\--

“It looks good right?” Lena shows Kara the balcony garden that she just set up.

“Yeah, so what’s that supposed to be?” Kara points at one of the potted plants.

“Zucchinis.”

“Oooh, zucchinis?” Kara suggests. They have been at it for days, each time giving suggestions to the other when they stumble upon a word they like.

“No. Garden?” 

“No, that will just make me think of _that_ garden, I’ll laugh,” Kara shakes her head.

“That rules out ‘planting’ too I suppose,” Lena laughs and Kara smiles when she sees her laughing.

“Can you imagine? You want me to stop and you yell out 'planting!!’”

They both giggled their way back to the couch, where Lena curls up next to Kara, their feet tangled with one another as they enjoy their lazy Sunday. When Kara starts playing with her phone, Lena nudges her with her feet.

“Darling.”

“Yes, pumpkin?”

“What are you doing next Friday?”

“Why? What's happening next Friday?”

“It’s your birthday.”

“I’ll probably be working. It’s fine, you don’t need to do anything. I’m not a birthday person,” Kara says without looking up from her phone.

Lena pauses at Kara’s response and stares at her, “Everyone celebrates their birthday.”

“Not me. It’s nothing, it’s just like every other day,” Kara replies, still playing with her phone.

Lena frowns heavily at Kara’s reply and doesn't say anything back. Kara finally looks up, as she senses her girlfriend is in a bad mood. When she sees Lena’s disappointed face, she asks, “Do you want to celebrate my birthday?”

“Of course I do! It’s our first birthday together.”

“Sorry, I guess I never had a girlfriend before who wanted to celebrate these things with me. What do you want to do?”

“I’ll cook dinner and we can have cake?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Can you come home early that day?”

“Next Friday, right? Okay, I’ll try.”

Lena smiles and leans forward to give Kara a kiss, “You don’t have to do anything. Just come home early and we can celebrate your birthday. I’ll get the balloons and everything.”

“Okay. Oooh, balloons?”

“No,” Lena shuts down the safe word suggestion, “cake?”

“No.”

\--

“Oh, yeah. Kara is not a birthday person,” Eve replies. Sam and Lucy nod at her statement.

“But everyone celebrates their birthday!” Lena cries out. She went to them for suggestions on what to do for Kara’s birthday but seems like no one cares for the day except for Lena.

“Not Kara. I didn’t even realize that next week is her birthday. She doesn’t really tell us, or care apparently.”

“Honestly, she just treats it like any other day. We were together on her birthday once and I didn’t even know,” Sam looks at Lena and apologizes, “Oh, sorry.”

“What? For mentioning that you were together? I’m literally at the table with all her exes. Don’t worry about it, Sam.”

“Do you guys want mimosa?” Eve asks as she looks at the menu.

“Oooh, mimosa!” Lena exclaims loudly and the three girls turn around to look at her.

“I mean, yeah, sure,” Lena replies hastily and shoots Kara a quick text.

_mimosa?_

A reply comes immediately.

_no. umbrella?_

Lena types a quick _no_ as a reply.

\--

Kara wakes up to find Lena staring at her.

“Happy birthday.”

She squints her eyes and stretches her arms, “Have you been staring at me the whole morning?”

“I want to be the first person who wishes you.”

Kara looks back at Lena with half opened eyes, “Is this what a girlfriend does? Does this mean I have to go all out on Halloween?”

“Fine, you don’t _have_ to do it if you don’t want to,” Lena makes a face and shoves a pillow to Kara.

“I’m kidding, come here,” Kara pulls Lena closer to her, giving her a quick cuddle.

“Thank you, my day has already been made with you wishing me.”

“Your day just started. Don’t forget, we’re celebrating your birthday after work,” Lena reminds her, “and I will give your present tonight, okay?”

“Aren't you my present?” Kara gives a sly smile as her hands travel downwards and grabs Lena’s butt.

Lena slaps Kara’s hand away playfully and laughs, “Stop!”

“Your presence is my present,” Kara smiles.

“Ugh, so cheesy.”

“Cheesy works sometimes. Oh, cheesy?”

“Ew, no. We’ve been at this for weeks. Maybe we should just quit with the safe word idea.”

“How about something from Russian then. Or Mandarin? Or Japanese?”

“We can’t even decide on a word from English and you want to venture out to other languages?”

“You’re right,” Kara gives a quick forehead kiss and asks, “do you want to shower first?”

“No, you go ahead. Remember.”

“Dinner tonight. I know.”

\--

Kara walks out of her editor room angrily and takes out her phone to write Lena a text.

_I’m so sorry, my editor is giving me a last minute assignment. Please don’t wait up, I’ll be back suuuuper late! I’ll make it up to you! I love you, pumpkin!_

She puts away the phone and goes back to her office with a sigh. 

\--

When Kara comes back a little after midnight, the whole apartment is filled with party decorations, with _Happy birthday, Kara_ balloons decorating the walls. There’s cake on the kitchen island, with unlit candles on them, just waiting for the birthday girl. She walks over to their bed and finds Lena sleeping in a dress, probably trying to stay up as late as possible for her. Kara feels a tug of guilt at her heartstrings.

She kneels down next to their bed and gently wakes Lena up, “Pumpkin, do you want to change into something more comfortable?”

“Did you just get back?”

“I’m so sorry, work was piling up and my editor was yelling at me again and…”

“Don’t apologize, it’s your birthday.”

“No, it’s not. It’s already past midnight.”

“Look again,” Lena points to the clock with her eyes and Kara turns around to see that it’s stuck at 11pm, the hands unmoving.

“I took out the batteries,” Lena smiles, “In this apartment, it’s still the 22nd. Happy birthday.”

Kara presses a warm kiss to Lena’s forehead and rests her own forehead lightly on it, “I don’t deserve you.”

“Only I can decide that. Yes, you do. You deserve all of me.”

“I love you so much,” Kara whispers.

“I know,” Lena smiles and gives her a quick kiss, “have you eaten dinner?”

“No, but I’m too tired. Let’s just sleep,” Kara pause, “if that’s okay with you?”

“Anything for the birthday girl.”

After they change into more comfortable clothes, Lena gets in bed first and opens up her arms to hug Kara. Kara climbs into bed and easily sinks into Lena’s arms.

“By the way, your presents are upstairs.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“It’s your mom and your sister.”

Kara breaks off the hug and looks at Lena, “Huh?”

“Alex and Eliza are upstairs in my apartment.”

“What, they’re here? Why didn’t you tell me!”

“It was supposed to be a surprise, darling.”

“I feel so bad now.”

“It’s fine, they understood. You had work. You want to be the little spoon tonight?”

“Yes, please.”

Kara turns around so Lena could spoon her and they cuddle until morning.

\--

“Wake up, lovebirds!” Alex announces loudly as she steps into their apartment, “Are you decent?”

“Good morning, Alex. Keep it down, she’s still sleeping,” Lena warns her but Alex ignores it and just shakes Kara to get up.

“Get up, sleepyhead. And are you the little spoon?"

Kara wakes up with Alex laughing to her face and she throws a light punch at her, "You say a word of this, you're dead."

"Come upstairs, mom made breakfast."

After Alex left them, Kara groans loudly, “Ugh, why did I give her keys to our house? Remind me to take it back from her.”

Lena just laughs and gives Kara a kiss on the cheek, “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

\--

“I'm sorry, mom, if I knew you were in town—”

“You would still be working. It's okay, sweetie. Do we have you for the whole day today?” Eliza asks.

“Yeah, you have me for the whole day today.”

“Then today's September 22nd as far as I'm concerned. Happy birthday, sweetie.”

Kara hugs Eliza back and whispers, “Thanks, mom.”

\--

“This traffic light is taking forever!” Alex yells out in the car.

“Patience, sweetie. Just wait for it to turn green,” Eliza touches Alex’s forearms to calm her road rage.

Kara and Lena are sitting in the back of Alex’s car, with Kara’s head on Lena's shoulders when suddenly an idea pops into Kara’s head, “Oh, let's do the traffic light system!”

“What is it, sweetie?” Eliza asks from the passenger’s seat.

“Nothing, mom,” Kara replies but whispers to Lena, “our safe word. Let’s use traffic lights.”

“The word traffic light as our safe word?” Lena whispers back.

“No, we use the colors. Green is for okay, yellow is for slow down, and red for stop.” 

“That sounds good actually, I like it.”

\--

“I love seeing the two of you together,” Eliza smiles at Kara and Lena after they finished their lunch.

As Kara was drinking her milkshake, Eliza asks, “So, when will you two get married?”

At Eliza’s question, Kara sprays her milkshake all over the table, some even come out her nose.

“Mom!!”

Alex just laughs while Lena takes a napkin to wipe the table and passes Kara another napkin for her nose. 

“We’ve just been dating for a few weeks, mom. Why don’t you ask Alex that?”

“Oh, I asked Alex and Kelly that question so many times. They keep avoiding it.”

“Kelly?!” both Lena and Kara exclaim in surprise.

“Oh, did I forget to mention I’m dating Kelly?” Alex replies back nonchalantly.

\--

“Thank you for inviting us, dear,” Eliza says to Lena as they take a stroll around the park after lunch. Alex and Kara are walking in front of them, arguing about something.

“I just want her to have a good birthday,” Lena smiles, “And um… maybe don’t ask her about the marriage question so much. Please?”

“I’m sorry if you think I’m intrusive, dear. I just can’t wait to see my kids getting married.”

“I know, it’s just… this is her first relationship. I don’t want to scare her away.”

“If she runs away from this then she is a fool. But okay, I’ll try to stop asking about it.”

“Thank you, Eliza.”

“Little Lee, tell me I’m right. Is Kara the little spoon every night?” Alex shouts back.

“Don’t tell her, pumpkin!” Kara yells and proceeds to slap Alex on her arm.

Eliza and Lena just laugh as they continue strolling in the park.

\--

“Green?” Kara asks into a kiss as she stays on top of Lena in bed.

“Green.”

They continue making out, and Kara’s hand slides behind Lena to unhook her bra. Lena arches her neck as Kara continues kissing her and makes her way down. Lena lets out a noise as Kara fondles her underneath her bra, her hands clenching Kara’s hair. 

When Kara’s other hand makes her way down her torso, Lena cries out, “Um, red red red red.”

Kara stops and looks up at Lena, “Okay, okay.”

“Just… not there yet.”

“Okay. I'll stay up here, okay?”

Kara climbs back up to face Lena and kisses her deeply. When she feels a hand around her neck she smiles against the kiss and asks her girlfriend, “What are you doing?”

“You said you'd like it if I choke you?”

“You're barely touching me, you can go harder.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I'll use our safe word if you're going too hard.”

When Lena tightens her hold, Kara laughs a little, “Harder.”

“Are you sure?”

Kara grabs Lena and rolls over so that Lena is on top of her, “Green.”

When Lena strengthens her grip, Kara instructs, “Kiss me.”

Lena bends down and kisses Kara, one hand still on her neck, and she grips it tighter. That’s when Kara suddenly taps Lena wildly on her back and Lena lets go when she sees Kara gasping for air.

“Red! Red! Holy shit!” Kara says in between coughs as she catches her breath.

“Oh my God, are you okay?”

Kara just laughs as she lays back in bed, “I couldn’t say anything. Maybe we should have safe hand signals.”

“I’m so sorry!” Lena cries out but Kara just continues laughing so Lena scolds her, “how can you still laugh!”

“I just imagined the headline tomorrow. Reporter found dead, didn’t think things through when she asked her girlfriend to choke her.”

“Idiot,” Lena smiles as she lies down in bed next to Kara, “is that a no on the choking then?”

“You were so hot, pumpkin, right before you were trying to kill me.”

Lena starts to laugh as she denies the accusation. They playfully try to strangle one another, as they fight to get the top position in bed. When Kara wins the struggle, she kisses Lena on the forehead and whispers sweet I love yous in her ear. Kara smiles as she never had this much fun in bed with any of her non-girlfriends before. 

She gives Lena a quick kiss, “Thank you. This is one of the best birthdays I've ever had.”

“To more birthdays together.”

“To more birthdays together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it cheating if i use birthday for a day prompt?  
> idk i can’t think right now lol i think my brain is fried at day 25. god wish me luck for the next 6 days.


	26. diamond

Lena is doing her usual Sunday cleaning, in a much more peaceful state this week, as Kara is out in Metropolis for her assignment. As much as Kara thinks that she’s helping, most of the time she’s nothing but a distraction. Hence, Lena treasures these few days away from her so she can deep clean their house. While she was wiping the top of the kitchen cabinets, Lena hears a telephone ring and climbs down to look for the source of the noise.

Lena knows this apartment like the back of her hand, she has practically cleaned every inch of this place, so you can imagine the surprised look on her face when she sees a landline telephone connected to a hidden corner, hidden behind the curtains. How has she never noticed this landline before?

Warily, she picks up the phone.

“Hello, is this the Danvers residence?” asks a cheerful voice on the other end of the line.

“Yes.”

“Hi! My name is Zari and I am calling from Waverider Enterprise. We are conducting a study on donuts and we have a few questions to ask. Do you have a few minutes to do the survey?”

Lena purses her lips and looks at the empty apartment. It’s not like she has anything else to do.

“Sure.”

“May I know who I am speaking to?”

“Lena.”

“Great! Miss Lena Danvers, do you have any favorite donut flavor you love to eat?

Lena wanted to correct the caller but instead she just grins at her new name. Her heart flutters when she hears Kara’s last name attached to hers.

“Just a plain glazed donut,” Lena answers with a smile.

\--

“Did you know you have a landline?” Lena asks randomly on a Saturday morning as she remembers the call she had last week.

“A what?”

“A landline.”

“No, I don’t.”

When Lena shows Kara the beige telephone hidden behind the curtains, Kara looks at it curiously, “Huh, I didn’t even notice this. Must have come with the apartment.”

Lena hugs Kara from behind and rests her chin on her shoulder, “Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?”

“I think I have a non-girlfriend behind the other curtain.”

Lena squeezes Kara tight and warns her, “Don’t you dare!”

“Ow! Ow! Red!” Kara laughs as she turns around to face Lena, “There’s no one else. Just you.”

“Good,” Lena smiles as she gives Kara a kiss, “it’s just you for me too.”

\--

Kara walks into the apartment to find Lena panicking and turning over the cushions on the couch.

“What’s wrong?”

“I lost my ring,” Lena replies, looking close to tears as she shows Kara her hand, now a bit bare without the usual diamond ring on her index finger.

“I’m sure it’s in this apartment somewhere.”

“What if I lost it forever? I knew when it got loose, I should have kept it. I shouldn’t have worn it all the time,” Lena starts to cry and Kara comes running over.

“Hey pumpkin, it’s okay. I’ll help you look for it,” Kara hugs her girlfriend to console her.

“It’s the only thing my mother gave me.”

“I know. Let’s trace back your steps. What did you do today?”

“I... “ Lena closes her eyes as she tries to remember, “I wake up, sort out the trash, check the mails and tend to the garden. The trash!”

“I just threw it out. I’ll go look through the trash, you look around the garden. Okay?”

Lena nods but tears keep coming out, so Kara brushes away a few drops with her thumb, “We’ll find the ring.”

\--

“I looked through the trash twice, it’s not there. Did you find it?” Kara exclaims as she walks into the apartment.

“It’s not in the garden,” Lena says as she tries to fight back tears.

“Okay, do you want to go downstairs and look through the mailbox or do you want me to do it?”

“I’ll go, you keep looking in here, maybe you’ll have better luck.”

Kara walks over to Lena and holds her hands, “We’ll find it, okay?”

Lena didn’t reply but just gave a half smile in return. As she leaves their apartment, Kara starts to look around. She went through the kitchen, the living room, even gave another lookover in the balcony garden.

When she goes to their bed, she flips the mattress over and that’s when she sees a tiny hint of sparkle flying away from her, and a soft clunk is heard when it hits the floor.

“Shit!”

Kara gets on the floor to see where the ring landed. She has her eyes as close to the floor as possible, as she scans every surface. When she sees a glimmer by the couch in the living room, Kara crawls over and smiles as she picks up the ring.

She gets on her knee and breathes a sigh of relief, “There you are.”

Lena walks into the apartment and cries out, “It’s not downstairs! I went to check the bulletin boards too and there’s nothing else there and…”

Kara was on one knee and holding out the ring she just found. Lena pauses when she sees the position Kara is in and Kara looks at her weirdly until she realizes what the scene must have looked like. 

Kara wanted to explain but Lena screams happily, “You found it! Oh my God! I love you!”

Lena takes the ring from Kara and hugs her tight, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Kara gives an awkward smile as Lena screams out in joy.

\--

Later that night in bed, Kara couldn’t help but to think about the ring, and Lena’s face when she saw her in that proposal position. 

She carefully broaches the subject, “Urm, this morning, when I found the ring… “

“Yeah?”

“It was on the floor, that’s why I was on one knee and um…”

“Darling.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t thinking you were proposing. Don’t worry.”

Kara turns around so that she faces Lena in bed and Lena does the same.

“That’s the thing, it felt right.”

Lena’s heartbeat picks up at Kara’s reply, “What are you trying to say?”

“I mean, I’m not asking you now, I’m definitely not ready.”

“I know. Please know that I’m not pressuring you,” Lena says with concern in her tone. She knows Eliza keeps asking Kara about marriage and the last thing Lena wants is for Kara to get scared and run away from this relationship. The way they are right now is just nice. Lena didn’t want to ruin that.

“I know you’re not. But I’ve been thinking. One day, when I am ready, when I do ask you  _ the  _ question... would you say yes?”

Lena’s eyes go wide at the question, she didn’t even entertain the possibility of Kara proposing to her. Well, it's not like Kara is proposing now but just throwing out the idea feels like a huge step for them. They’ve been taking this relationship one day at a time, and now Kara is promising a future. A future that Lena imagined a thousand times, but has never dared to say out loud.

“Are you sure?”

“Not now, but one day.”

“Yes,” Lena answers with tears welling in her eyes, “one day, when the time comes, my answer is yes.”

“Yeah? Promise?”

“Promise.”

Kara scoots closer to Lena to give her a kiss and hugs her tight.

“I know I can be childish and petulant at times,” Kara whispers and Lena interrupts her, “at times? Try all the time.”

Kara laughs as she hugs Lena tighter, “I know I’m not the easiest person to be with, but I know that I want to be with you. If you would have me.”

“I’m not the easiest person to be with too.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re smart. You’re reliable. You’re patient. You put up with my shit. You get along with my friends and family,” Kara grabs Lena’s face and kisses her, “you’re the best person in the whole wide world.”

Lena smiles and she nuzzles her face into Kara’s body, “Tell me more why I’m the best.”

“You clean the house, like, you actually love cleaning it, it freaks me out.”

“That’s because you’re so messy.”

“See? We’re made for each other.”

“You’re not bad yourself, Kara Danvers. You’re hardworking. You’re caring. You’re funny.”

“Oh, I know all that,” Kara gives a smug smile as she looks at Lena.

“And humble,” Lena rolls her eyes.

"Look at that, you can be funny too."

"Ha ha," Lena gives a sarcastic laugh and stops when Kara is staring at her longingly.

“I love you, pumpkin.”

“I love you too, darling.”

\--

As Kara was sorting out their mails, she stops and asks Lena a question, “Pumpkin.”

“Yes?”

“When… when I was talking about the thing the other night, you know I wasn’t ready, right? But I promise you I will be one day.”

“Yeah, I know. Why?”

“You know I was talking about marriage, right? You know I’m not ready for us to take up each other’s last name or I don’t know… we haven’t actually talked about this.”

“Darling,” Lena looks at Kara, “I get it. You’re not ready now. Why are you so flustered?”

“Okay, because I have a thank you postcard from Waverider Enterprise addressed to Lena Danvers?” Kara says with a troubled look as she shows the postcard to Lena. 

Lena panics and grabs the postcard from Kara as she tries to convince Kara the mail must have been a mistake. She kept it away in her book, but takes another look at the name and smiles.

One day.


	27. desk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl i was a having a rough time with this prompt lol initially i wanted to have a good desk building activity but my brain (at 3am no less) decides that that's boring and this is what it came up with  
> ps: the tie-in to the prompt is super weak so sorry lol but here it is xD

Kara secures the clasp of the necklace for Lena and gives a soft tap on her back, “Looks good. You sure you don’t want to resize the ring? You can wear it again.”

Lena looks down and plays with the ring that is on her necklace, “No, this is fine. Thanks, darling.”

Lena continues with reading her book while Kara rests her head on Lena’s lap on the couch. Kara disturbs Lena as she reads her book, playfully picking Lena’s nose with her finger.

“Stop,” Lena laughs, “what do you want?”

“Your lease is up next month, right?” Kara asks, still playing with Lena’s nostrils as Lena slaps her hand away.

“Yeah, why?”

“Move in with me.”

“Okay.”

Kara smiles, “That was easy.”

“I mean, I practically live here already.”

“Oh, I have one condition!”

Lena closes her book and looks down at Kara. She pinches Kara’s nose lightly, “You are in no state to give me conditions.”

“Your bed comes with you,” Kara replies with a nasal voice.

Lena lets go of Kara’s nose and rolls her eyes, “We can just move it now if you want. I swear, sometimes I feel like you love that bed more than me. I see you sneaking a nap upstairs sometimes.”

“I don’t love it more than you,” Kara says with a smirk, “I love you both equally.”

“If you have to choose between me or the bed, which one would you choose?”

“You’re irreplaceable… but the bed is so comfortable… this is hard,” Kara replies with both hands in the air, pretending to choose one over the other.

“I hate you,” Lena laughs and shoves Kara out of her lap as she continues to read her book.

“I’m kidding. I would choose you every time,” Kara says as she tries to bring the book down to kiss Lena. 

“Red.”

“Whaaat? I can’t even have a kiss?”

“I’m trying to finish this last chapter.”

“See? This is why I love the bed more. I’m going upstairs.”

"Ask the bed to make you lunch today too," Lena states bluntly as she continues to read her book.

\--

“You’ve slept with half of National City, why do you keep asking for us three to help you?” Sam grunts as she lifts the heavy mattress.

“Really? Half?” Lena asks as she looks at Kara.

“Don’t believe her,” she replies Lena and answers Sam, “the three of you are my favorites.”

“Holy shit, this mattress is super heavy,” Lucy cries out as she carries the other end.

“Be careful, don’t drop my precious!” Kara yells.

Eve looks at Lena and whispers, “Precious?” and Lena quickly replies back, “Don’t ask. She has a weird relationship with this bed.”

As they carefully carry the mattress downstairs, Lena’s phone starts to ring. She takes a peak at the caller ID and lets go of the mattress, “I have to get this.”

The rest of the girls screams when Lena lets go as they have to support the extra weight.

“Do not drop my precious!” Kara warns the rest.

“Go to hell with your precious!” Sam yells back.

They hold on as Lena takes the call and slowly makes their way down. When Lena joins them again, everyone breathes a sigh of relief as she resumes her help. 

Kara asks Lena as they continue carrying it, “Everything okay?”

“It was my lawyer.”

“What’s wrong? Something about the case?”

“It’s my trust fund. The court lifted the freezing orders. I have my money again.”

Kara stops in her tracks and stares at Lena as she drops the mattress to the floor.

\--

“Where’s everyone?” Lena asks as she steps out from the balcony.

“They went home. Eve has a shift at her shop, Lucy has a date and Sam is just being Sam. How was the call?” 

“The lawyers will set up a meeting soon to discuss everything regarding all my assets. I have to decide what I want to do with it and sign a few papers.”

“Okay, good,” Kara replies as she avoids Lena’s gaze.

"I would love to have your input… regarding my money."

"I don't have anything to say. You should do whatever you want with it."

“Do you… do you want to come with me? To the lawyer’s office?”

“No, I shouldn't come with,” Kara looks down and shakes her head.

Lena steps closer to Kara and holds her hands, “You could just be there for me?”

Kara finally looks up and with a smile she replies, “I probably will be busy with work anyway. You’ll be fine, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

\--

“My meeting with the lawyers is next Monday,” Lena says on that Friday morning as they get ready for work.

“Okay. You’re taking the day off?”

“Yeah.”

“I have to get going,” Kara gives Lena a quick kiss, “bye, pumpkin.”

“Yeah. Bye, darling,” Lena stares at Kara as she leaves their apartment. 

She sighs deeply as she continues to get ready for work herself.

\--

“What’s wrong?” Lena asks when she sees Kara heading straight for the beer right after she comes home. She only does that when she’s stressed.

“My editor wants to withdraw my corruption article.”

“But you worked for months on it! What’s wrong with it?”

Kara takes a long gulp, then sighs deeply as she settles down on the couch opposite Lena.

“You remember the interview I did with my source?”

“The ex-advisor to the politician you’re trying to expose?”

“Yeah. She gave me all the information I needed on him, and I managed to link him to someone bigger. I even got an ex-employee of his as one of my sources. I was more than happy to expose him to the public, but he caught wind and now, all my sources are scared shitless. Plus, I don’t know what kind of strings he pulled but my editor is somehow threatened too. Said he's withdrawing my article because I've lost credibility when my sources pulled out. What a load of crap. He knows my sources were credible! Everyone is afraid to get this article published which is bullshit! Isn’t it our job to put the truth out there? And yet again we have another rich politician who buys his way out of a scandal. I’m so sick of this!” 

Kara gets so enraged she doesn’t realize she’s clenching her fist the entire time, and was beside herself while she’s telling the story. Lena gently rubs Kara’s knuckle, hoping it would calm her down.

“I’m sorry, I know you worked hard on this,” Lena tries to console Kara after her rant, “Can’t you… can’t you publish this article on your own? Like a blog or something?” Lena suggests.

“No, I’ll break my contract. I can get fired.”

“I see.”

Kara knocks back the rest of her beer and rests on the couch. She has her forearms covering her eyes as she sighs loudly.

“If you… If you want to publish it yourself, just quit your job. I can support you now.”

Kara scoffs, “Not everything can be solved with money, Lena.”

Lena gets taken aback at Kara’s reply, “What does that supposed to mean?”

Kara clears her throat and sits properly on the couch as she avoids Lena’s gaze, “Nothing. Just ignore me.”

“No, say it. You've been dying to say something ever since I got my money back, so just say what's on your mind.”

“You don't want to know.”

“Just get it out of your chest,” Lena says in a louder tone.

“It’s nothing,” Kara replies with gritted teeth, clearly annoyed at how Lena is pushing her.

“Just spit it out, Kara!”

“Your money's dirty!! I don't want to use it, I don't want to touch it, I don't want anything to do with it! I wished you never would have gotten it back. There! Are you  _ fucking _ happy!??”

Silence falls between them as Lena tries to fight back her tears. Without a word, Lena gets up and leaves their apartment.

“God dammit,” Kara curses under her breath as she follows Lena.

“Lena. Lena,” Kara calls out for her girlfriend as Lena angrily climbs the stairs back up to her apartment.

When Lena goes inside her apartment she slams the door close and Kara hesitates outside for a moment, wondering if she’s emotionally equipped to handle this situation and not make it worse. After a minute, and against her better judgement, she opens the door and steps in.

“Lena, I’m sorry,” Kara apologizes.

“No, you’re not,” Lena wipes away a tear that fell, determined not to let Kara see her in a weakened state, “at least now I know what you think of my money.”

“You can’t exactly blame me for that! Lex and Lillian got that money because they stole from everyone!”

“So, if I keep the money you think I’m like them too, right?”

“No, of course not.”

“Just admit it, Kara. You were never a fan of my family. I’ve invited you to come along with my visits and not once, not even once you bothered to accompany me.”

“I still don’t get why you go visit him every month!”

“He’s my brother!!”

“Who is a criminal!”

"Who is still my brother. If Alex commits a crime and gets thrown into jail, would you stop visiting her?"

"If… if it's serious, I would."

“Right," Lens shakes her head when Kara is being stubborn, "You always want to win. Just so you know, that trust fund? My father left me that money way before Lex or Lillian got anything to do with it.”

“It’s still Luthor’s money,” Kara replies hastily, not wanting to back down. Maybe Lena was right, she always wants to win an argument.

“I’m a Luthor!”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“No, I get what you mean loud and clear. You think I'm bad. Because I'm a Luthor, right?”

“I didn't say that!”

“You didn't have to say it!!”

“Dammit, Lena,” Kara combs through her hair with her hand as she tries to fight back her own tears, “this is why I didn’t want to say anything.”

“So what? You’re gonna just repress this thought of yours? Until when? Until you burst out in anger like tonight?”

“That’s not fair! You know I’m upset with my editor tonight.”

“I know! You’re upset with your editor  _ every _ night! You don't even like your editor! He just yells at you everyday! All I wanted to do was to help you.”

“By offering to support me? Like I’m some poor sugar baby and you’re my rich sugar mommy? If everyone in the world quits just because they hate their boss, no one would have a job! Call me childish all you want, but I take my job seriously! Not everything can be solved with money, Lena!”

The second Kara stops yelling she regrets every single word that came out of her mouth. She closes her eyes and shakes her head, cursing herself for not keeping her emotions in check.

“Can you leave me alone, please,” Lena says in a soft voice, practically begging.

“Lena.”

“Please.”

“Pumpkin.”

“I want to be alone.”

Kara walks out of Lena's apartment slowly, hoping that Lena would stop her at any time and asks for her to come back. She didn't. 

\--

A few hours after their fight, sometime right before midnight, Kara opens the door to Lena's apartment slowly. She tiptoes to the bed, their old bed, as Lena's comfortable bed is downstairs, to find Lena sleeping on it. 

Turns out Lena wasn't really sleeping as she could sense Kara's presence. Without opening her eyes, Lena warns, "Go away. I told you I wanted to be alone."

"Can we talk?"

"I think we’ve done enough talking."

"I don’t want to be those couples who fight."

Lena gets up and sits on the bed, "Well, news flash Miss Reporter, couples do fight."

"I just don’t want us to argue and then not talk to each other. Let’s not be that kind of couple," Kara replies slowly, still standing in front of Lena, not daring to sit next to her.

"And I don't want to be the kind of couple who keeps things from each other. Looks like we all can't have what we want."

Kara kneels down in front of Lena and hugs her legs, "I'm so sorry."

"I want you to know that I'm so upset with you."

"And you have every right to be. I shouldn’t have said anything. I know now that your money doesn’t have anything to do with what Lex or Lillian did. I’m sorry. It’s your trust fund, it’s your money. I shouldn't have a say in it."

Lena looks at Kara and gently holds her face so that Kara is looking up at her, "That’s the thing, Kara. My decision from now onwards impacts us. I  _ want _ you to have a say. I cherish your input just as much. It just hurts to hear it from you like that."

"I’m sorry, that’s the last thing I want. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m so sorry," Kara replies as she kisses the inside of Lena's palm that's holding her cheek. 

"Don’t keep it inside next time. I need to know what you think. Good or bad. And if it’s something we should work on, we can work on it together."

"I just thought… the reason I didn't say anything was because I didn't want us to fight like tonight."

"But we are going to fight! We'll love each other and we'll fight and we'll argue and we'll disagree but we will still love each other. This is what being in a relationship is all about," Lena says as she brings both her hands to cup Kara's face, "Do you love me any less because of tonight?"

"No, of course not!"

"See? And I still love you too. Even if you're an angry idiot."

"You’re right. I was wrong for not telling you what I was thinking. I’m so sorry for bursting out on you tonight."

"Come here," Lena gestures for Kara to sit next to her, "I’m sorry too. I know you’re having a rough time with your editor, I didn’t mean anything bad when I said I could support you financially. I was just trying to help out."

"I know you are. I wasn’t thinking straight. I regret every hurtful thing I said to you.”

“It hurts to think that you think I’m bad, because I’m not. I’m trying hard to be good. So hard,” Lena says with a quiver in her voice.

“Hey, hey,” Kara comes closer and drapes her arm over Lena, “I know you are. I’ve never said you’re bad. Not even once. So don’t ever think that because I would never think that. I know you’re not your family.”

At Kara’s touch, Lena starts to cry, “I am petrified that if you stop seeing the good in me, then I'll stop seeing it too.”

“Pumpkin, you  _ are _ good. You will always be good,” Kara hugs her girlfriend close and kisses her head, “It doesn’t matter what you want to do with your money, I trust that you will make the best decision. Because you are the best person I know.” 

“What if I want to keep it?”

“Then you’ll keep it.”

“What if I want to give it away?”

“Then you’ll give it away. I will support you no matter what.”

“What if I’m left with nothing?”

“You won’t be left with nothing,” Kara says softly as she looks at Lena, “you have me.”

Kara rocks Lena gently, and every few minutes kisses her on the top of her head. They stay like this for a few moment, as they comfort the hurt they caused each other. When Lena grabs Kara’s waist and hugs her tight, Kara returns the same sentiment and hugs her tighter.

“I really thought you wouldn’t come back up tonight,” Lena whispers into Kara’s shoulder.

“Why do you think that?”

“You have your precious downstairs, you could have just left me alone tonight.”

“Pumpkin,” Kara breaks off the hug and smiles at Lena, “how do I get through one night without you?”

“Pfft. Sweet talker,” Lena smiles back.

“If I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be?” Kara asks her earnestly.

“Darling,” Lena raises her eyebrow with concern, “you’re doing LeAnn Rimes again.”

Kara grabs Lena and Lena yelps in surprise. She cuddles Lena close as they lie down in bed.

“I need you in my arms, need you to hold. You are my world, my heart, my soul.”

“Idiot,” Lena laughs into the cuddle.

“Do it, I know you want to,” Kara says as she gives Lena a quick squeeze.

Lena hesitates but soon sings, “Baby, you would take away everything~ good in my life~”

“And… tell… me… now… How do I live without you~”

They both sing into the night, as they laugh and settle into each other’s embrace.

\--

“All my clothes I’ve decided to donate to charity. I mean, I haven’t worn them in almost a year, I probably don’t need them, right?” Lena informs Kara as she shows her the breakdown of her assets.

Kara sips her coffee that Sunday morning and just nods, “That sounds great, pumpkin.”

“Jack will help me set up the auction. I’ll auction off all my clothes, shoes, and everything I used to own and the money will go to Jack’s Alzheimer’s charity.”

“ _ Everything _ you used to own?” Kara asks with concern.

“Except the bed,” Lena rolls her eyes.

“Phew,” Kara pretends to wipe the sweat of her brow and Lena shakes her head at the gesture.

“Most of the trust fund, I’m paying back whatever Lex and Lillian stole,” Lena continues.

“You are?”

“It’s not everything but look here,” Lena turns to the other page, “I got a few of Lex’s former employees to help me out with the refund process, the ones I trust anyway. It’s not enough to pay back the full amount so I want to make sure at least everyone gets something back.”

“That sounds great. I’m so proud of you.”

“And… I know you don’t like it, but I’m going to keep some money away for savings,” Lena points to an amount on the paper and studies Kara’s reaction. 

Kara looks at the amount and winces, “I've got my own savings now, you know? I can help. You don’t have to keep that much.”

“It’s not a lot of money, I’ll show it to you. It’s for practical purposes.”

Kara studies the breakdown that Lena is showing her.

“Here, look, if anything happens to either one of us, it’s enough money for us to survive. And we won't touch the money, we'll keep it for emergencies and for the future. In case we have kids and all that.”

“Kids? You want kids?” Kara asks at the mention of their future children.

“I do…” Lena pauses, realizing this is the first time they’re talking about this, “Do you?”

“I love kids. I want a dozen of them,” Kara smiles.

Lena shakes her head lightly, “I’m thinking one or two, not a whole soccer team, darling.”

“One or two sounds perfect.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And I’m okay with this. Whatever you decide to do with the money, savings for our kids, or charity or whatever, I trust you. We're in this together.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? You can tell me if you’re not.”

“I am one hundred percent okay with this,” Kara looks into Lena’s eyes and smiles.

Lena smiles back and breathes a sigh of relief knowing that Kara has her back now. 

“What time will you be meeting with the lawyers tomorrow?” Kara asks.

“Ten. Why?”

“I’ll come along. If you want me to.”

“I do. Thank you.”

\--

As they wait for the lawyers to come back with the papers, Lena’s legs start to fidget and she plays with her fingers nervously. Lena starts to rub her stomach, and Kara knows her nerves are getting to her. Kara looks over at her girlfriend, wondering what she could do to calm Lena down.

“Pumpkin,” Kara runs her fingers on the smooth table and asks loudly, “why do lawyers always have the most menacing desk?”

“It’s mahogany, it’s not menacing. How do you even describe a desk as a menace?” Lena replies, eyes still looking down and her hands on her stomach.

“Do you think we should get one for our apartment?”

“Just a desk in general or this particular menacing desk?” Lena looks up and asks.

“I feel like I can become a lawyer if I own one of these desks.”

“Yeah, right,” Lena rolls her eyes.

Kara gets up and goes around the desk to sit on the lawyer’s seat.

“Kara Danvers, come back here,” Lena says in an angry whisper as she takes a double look at the door, hoping the lawyers won’t enter at any moment.

“Miss Luthor, as your lawyer I instruct you to sign these papers,” Kara says in a deep voice as she shoves fake papers in front of Lena.

“I don’t know what you think a lawyer does, but it’s not this, darling,” Lena shakes her head but smiles at her girlfriend’s behaviour.

“Sign it!” Kara says as she gives wild gestures asking for Lena to sign.

“And what exactly am I signing?” Lena asks, humoring Kara’s antics.

“Papers.”

Lena snorts a laugh, “And what exactly are the papers about, Miss Lawyer?”

“It’s an agreement to buy a desk for your girlfriend,” Kara smirks.

“Tell my girlfriend we don’t have space in our apartment.”

“Let me check back with her,” Kara looks up and stares at the ceiling and back to Lena, “she says the agreement is for a future desk.”

“A desk in the future or a futuristic desk?” Lena asks with a puzzled look.

“Oooh futuristic desk! I mean, let me check back with her,” Kara stares back at the ceiling and Lena laughs.

“She says both. A futuristic desk in the future.”

“Tell my girlfriend I can’t sign these papers because I don’t know what the future looks like.”

Without looking up, Kara replies immediately, “Your girlfriend says you’ll have a bigger house in the future. So there’s space for a desk.”

“Yeah? And how does she know this?”

“Because your girlfriend is from the future.”

Lena smiles at Kara’s answer, “What else can she tell me about the future?”

“She said you’ll be staying in a bigger house, with 10 kids and 12 desks, one for each of the family members.”

“Tell her that sounds stupid.”

“She said everyone will see you for the goodness that is inside you, and you will clear up the Luthor’s name with your own effort.”

Lena stops and starts to tear up at Kara’s words.

“She said she sees more fights and more disagreements in the future, but within those arguments she promises the love will never stop.”

“She said she will be there in your ups and downs, if you’re rich or poor, because she’s in this for the long haul.”

“She also says the terms of this agreement are non-negotiable,” Kara smiles warmly as she looks at Lena.

Lena laughs as she tries to fight back her happy tears, “Where do I sign?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i don’t know what to write for desk  
> my brain: make it angst


	28. book

“Are you free this weekend?”

Lena looks up from her book and answers, “I should be. Why?”

“I was thinking of going to Smallville. If you want to join me.”

“I would love that.”

“I’ll show you around town. They have this one diner there that serves really good apple pies,” Kara smiles.

“Okay.”

\--

“I think this is my first overnight bus ride with you,” Kara grabs Lena’s hand and grips it tight.

“I think this is my first overnight bus ride ever,” Lena says with a worried tone.

“It’s just like a short bus ride, except it’s over the night,” Kara grins and Lena just looks at her with an annoyed expression.

\--

Kara looks outside the window, concentrating on the droplets of rain as her hand still holds Lena’s hands tightly. When the bus hits a bump on the road, Kara looks over at Lena, making sure she’s okay. Lena shifts a little in her sleep and her head slowly falls over on Kara’s shoulder. Kara gives a soft kiss on the top of Lena’s head as she rests on it, slowly falling asleep herself.

\--

Kara thanks the help desk after getting the keys and she passes one of the keys to Lena, “They said they only have one bed. You don’t mind, right?”

Lena just rolls her eyes and holds back a laugh.

\--

“You said the apple pie here is the best,” Lena says.

“That’s right,” Kara replies as she takes a bite of her pie.

“So why are you having the pecan pie?” Lena points out.

They’re at Smallville diner, right around the corner of their motel. Kara has just finished showing Lena around the small town and now they’re having the diner’s famous desserts.

“I feel like having pecan, how’s your apple pie?”

“It’s really good,” Lena exclaims and when Kara reaches with her fork to get a taste Lena pulls her plate closer to her, “uh uh if you wanted apple pie, you should have ordered it.”

When Kara pouts, Lena tries really hard to keep a straight face but she can’t fight off the smile that spreads across her lips. She stabs a huge piece with her fork and offers it to Kara. Kara happily opens her mouth while Lena feeds her.

“You want some of my pecan pie?”

“Sure.”

Kara feeds a huge helping of the pecan pie to Lena and smiles as Lena takes a bite out of her fork. While Lena is chewing, Kara's thoughts drift to something weighing on her mind. She's surprised when Lena stops eating and reaches out her hand to touch Kara, “Are you ready to tell me what's bothering you?”

Kara just smiles softly and looks down, “How do you always know how I feel?”

“Because it’s all over your face, idiot.”

“Right,” Kara smiles and takes a deep breath, “I'm thinking of looking for a new job.”

“Is this because of our fight last week?”

“Partly, yeah.”

“I know you’ve been tiptoeing around me since the fight but you don’t have to do this.”

“I mean, you're right. I come back from work everyday getting yelled at, I get upset and it trickles down into our home. It's not healthy. I… I love my job, but I also love you. I've been thinking a lot about this and I realized one's not working, and I know it's not you. I want to work somewhere where I can be happy, and still love what I do."

Lena stays silent and just listens as Kara talks, her hand holding Kara's the entire time.

"And… and you don’t have to do anything,” Kara continues, “you don’t even need to touch your trust fund money. It’s not because I’m being too proud or anything, but that’s money for our future, right? I have a few freelance jobs lined up while I look around for a new job. I can handle this. I just… I just want to let you know.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

At Lena’s approval, Kara starts to tear up, “I… I don’t want to mess this up anymore.”

“Oh, darling,” Lena gets up from her seat and slides into the booth to sit beside Kara, “You’re not."

"Yes, I am. I almost ruined what we have. And I hated it. I hated what I did to you."

Lena didn't say anything back but just rubs Kara's arms up and down. 

"I promised to make you happy. I want to keep that promise."

"You do make me happy. You give me so much joy everyday. And the fact that you're doing this means a lot. I want you to work at a place that gives you as much joy as you give others."

Lena wipes away Kara’s tears and hugs her tight, “Are you ready to introduce me to your parents?”

\--

**In loving memory**

**of**

**Zor-el & Alura**

Lena reads the engraving as Kara bends down and brushes off the dry leaves from the tombstones. Then, she starts to pull up some of the stray weeds around it. Lena squats down to help her as she eyes Kara who is fully concentrating on cleaning around her parents' grave. When Kara starts to stand up again, Lena follows. Kara holds Lena’s hands as she greets her parents.

“Mom, dad. It's me. This is my girlfriend, Lena,” Kara says as she raises Lena’s hand.

“Hi,” Lena replies awkwardly and whispers to Kara, “Should I leave?”

“It’s okay,” Kara whispers back and looks at the tombstones again, “How’s heaven? Or hell if that’s where you are.”

“Kara!”

“What? How should I know where they could end up?”

“She’s just joking,” Lena laughs nervously as she says it to the tombstones.

“Wouldn’t it be funny though if they died in a fire and they end up in hell?” 

“KARA!”

“They are living for my dark humor, don’t worry. Ooh, living,” Kara laughs and points to her parents’ tombstones, “No pun intended.”

“Please know that I have no part in this,” Lena says again in a lower voice to the tombstones, scared some kind of cosmic ghost karma would come at them if Kara keeps up with this.

“My girlfriend here is a bit uptight as you can see,” Kara laughs and she looks at Lena as she says this, “but I love her.”

“After the both of you died, I spent most of my life avoiding my feelings, especially the difficult ones. I thought I would never open up to another person ever again, but Lena proves me wrong. I forgot what it’s like to love someone this much, and she reminds me of that every single day.”

Kara could feel Lena’s grip getting tighter around her hand, and her thumb stroking Kara gently to soothe her.

“You gave me a good life, Eliza and Alex gave me a good life, but now I feel like building a good life of my own, with Lena. I hope I grew up to be someone you would be proud of.”

When Kara starts to walk away, Lena stands still and shouts out, “She makes me happy!”

Kara stops in her tracks as she watches Lena say things out loud to her parents’ graves.

“I never thought I could have a chance at happiness again but she proved me wrong too. She makes me happy, and I love her back. I also want you to know that she grew up to be the most hardworking, the sweetest, funniest...” 

“Pumpkin,” Kara says, “any more praises and their ghosts might follow us back home.”

“Again,” Lena looks at the tombstones as she says this, “I’m not a part of whatever dark humor your daughter is doing. If you want to haunt her, please haunt her alone.”

Lena curtsied, takes a bow, bends down and gives a prayer sign, looks up and signs a cross over her chest while Kara just laughs at her.

"What was that?"

"I'm covering all my bases with all the Gods in the world, please don't make any more jokes in this graveyard."

Kara grabs Lena’s hands and squeezes it three times. Lena smiles as they walk out from the cemetery together.

\--

“Question.”

“Shoot.”

“What were your parents like? You rarely talk about them,” Lena asks as they cuddle up in their motel on their last night in Smallville.

“Well, my mom’s a lawyer and my dad was a stay-at-home dad, I think I was closer with him because of that. I mean, I spent most of my time with him.”

“Stay-at-home dad, huh? I never knew that. Tell me more about them.”

“My mom’s always working, but I remember she would spend the weekend with us. Weekend is always mom's time, she makes sure of that. We would play games, she would cook, and my dad sometimes joins us for the weekends. Sometimes, he is in his lab.”

“His lab?”

“That’s what he calls his man cave. He would go downstairs, and would always say he’s going to his lab. He used to write a lot too or something, I’m not so sure.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I remember he was writing something, and I kept stealing his pencils and hid it from him,” Kara laughs at the memory.

“Maybe you got your penchant for writing from him.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“How come you never told me any of this?”

“I don’t know… I don’t really like remembering my past, that’s why I rarely talk about my parents. I mean, my dad literally flung me out the window, so that I could stay alive. I feel like I owe it to them to look ahead, you know?”

“You can still look ahead and talk about them.”

“I guess so. If you want to know anything else, just ask.”

“Do you remember what kind of writing your dad does?”

\--

Kara comes into the apartment and just hugs Lena from behind while Lena is preparing tea.

"How's the job hunting going?"

"Shh… I just need a minute to recharge."

Lena let her be while she shuffles around the kitchen, with Kara attached to her back. When Lena finishes preparing her tea she turns around and hugs Kara back. They just stay in a hug, far longer than just a minute. It could have been 10 minutes or an hour, Lena can't tell. But it didn't matter to Lena, she would have hugged Kara for as long as she needed to. 

"I don't think investigative reporters are in demand right now, I probably should look into new careers," Kara whispers into Lena's shoulder.

"What are you thinking?"

"Full-time girlfriend, is that a thing?"

"I have a vacancy for a full-time girlfriend," Lena smiles and Kara could tell she was laughing a bit too with how her whole body shakes.

"Mmm…" Kara breaks the hug and gives Lena a sultry look, "does this means you'll be my boss?"

Lena, sensing what's about to happen, gives the same alluring look herself, "Yes, you have to listen to everything I say."

"I don't know, boss. What are the employee benefits that come with this job?" Kara brings her hands down to Lena's waist as she asks more questions.

"We have good healthcare coverage, where the boss herself will take care of you," Lena herself has her arms wrap on Kara's shoulder as she answers.

"That sounds amazing. What else?" 

"The pay will be given in hugs and kisses, and the occasional fondling."

"Ooh, I don't know if our local deli will accept fondling as a form of payment. What's the job description?"

"You have to listen to whatever the boss says, and tend to her every need."

"And what does the boss need?" Kara moves in closer and backs Lena against the kitchen counter.

"The boss needs you to come closer, so that she could touch you."

Kara comes even more closer, their face practically a fingertip away from each other, "Done. What else does the boss need?"

"She needs you to kiss her whenever and wherever she wants."

"My kisses are at your command," Kara says in a whisper, her lips close to Lena's, just touching it lightly, not kissing yet.

Lena's breath starts to pick up as Kara is teasing her, "You also have to work late nights and cuddle the boss if needed."

"I think that can be arranged. Is the boss open for more than just… cuddling?" Both of their breathing becomes more labored as Kara's hands slowly travel downwards.

"If you do your job well, there will be a reward system in place."

"What kind of reward?"

"The kind of reward where you can see the boss' garden."

At the mention of the word, Kara starts laughing and rests her head on Lena's shoulder. 

"I told you not to use the word!"

"I'm sorry, I forgot! I didn't know what else to say!"

Kara extracts herself from Lena and bends over the kitchen counter to compose herself, "Oh jeez, I just spat water everywhere, and I wasn't even drinking."

"I got better, right? That was the longest we did without me blushing," Lena smiles brightly, so proud of herself to have kept up with Kara.

"Are you kidding me? That was your best yet. I was so turned on," Kara comes over to Lena and kisses her, "I will always be your full-time girlfriend."

"Mmm, yes you are," Lena kisses Kara back.

\--

Lena walks over to Kara who is lounging on the couch with a huge grin on her face. She hides something behind her back and gleefully asks, “Guess what I have?”

“A urinary tract infection?”

“Oh. My. God. No! It's something I have behind me right now."

"A tail?"

"You’re ridiculous. Okay, stop guessing. Look.”

Lena gives Kara a book and she studies the leather bound book, quietly reading the engraving on the cover.

_The application of quantum entanglement in atomic energy. By Dr. Zor-El._

“Doctor?”

“Your dad’s a scientist, darling. That lab he was in? Probably is his actual lab, not his mancave. And all the writing he's been doing? He was writing his dissertation! And I found it.”

“H-how?” Kara looks at Lena in disbelief.

“A lot of digging. A loooot. Guess you’re not the only investigative reporter in this house anymore.”

“This is amazing,” Kara gives Lena a kiss, “thank you. You’re amazing.”

"Anyway, when you said he was writing, I looked up his name at the local library. Found his thesis, but I guess he wasn't married or had you while he was doing his masters. So, I called his university and found out he wrote a dissertation! This is a copy from their library. Go on, read the acknowledgement page,” Lena smiles.

Kara opens the first few pages and reads out loud when she lands on the acknowledgement page, “I would like to first thank my dissertation committee…”

“No, read the last paragraph,” Lena instructs.

“Finally, I would like to especially thank my family. My wife, Alura who has been extremely supportive of me throughout this entire process and has made countless sacrifices to help me get to this point,” Kara smiles at the fact that she’s actually reading her dad’s words out loud.

“And to my daughter Kara, for without her, this dissertation would have been completed much faster,” Kara laughs as she reads the sentence.

“Looks like you got your funny bone from your dad.”

As Kara continues reading, her eyes start to well up so Lena reads it out loud on her behalf, “For such a little thing, you have given me a huge amount of joy. I hope you continue to spread that same joy until you grow up.”

Kara starts to cry and Lena grabs her arm and hugs it tightly, "I think you grew up to be exactly who they envisioned you to be. If they’re here right now, they would be so proud of you.”

Kara spent the night perusing her dad's dissertation, reading about quantum entanglement word by word. She didn't understand what she was reading, but she kept reading pages after pages, just imagining her dad in his lab, writing it. When she is done, she opens up the book to the acknowledgement page again. Kara smiles as she reads the last paragraph over and over, etching her dad's words forever in her mind.


	29. dinner

Kara nudges Lena's feet with hers while they're seated on the opposite ends of the couch.

"Are you free tonight?"

Without looking up from her book, Lena answers, "Yeah."

"Me too."

"Well, I hope you find something to do."

"I’m asking you out, silly."

Lena smiles, "Why?"

"Don’t get me wrong, but I think we skipped all the romantic dinner date nights of our relationship and went straight to the domestic part."

Lena puts her book down and looks at Kara, "So, you want to bring me out for a romantic dinner date night?"

Kara crawls over to Lena and says in a whisper, "I want to romance you so bad, you’ll fall in love with me all over again."

"I thought you don’t do dates."

"I only do them with people I love."

Lena pretends to be in shock, "Gasp, you love me?"

Kara smiles at the gesture and scrunches her nose, "I do. Do you love me?"

"Eh, you have your moments," Lena jokingly ignores her and continues with reading her book.

"Ah. And they say I’m the funny one in this relationship."

Kara gets off from the couch and kneels beside Lena, "Lena Luthor, will you go on a date with me tonight?"

"Since you're begging on your knees, sure."

"Yes!" Kara fist pumps the air and Lena just laughs. 

"I'll pick you up at 6," Kara says quickly and gives Lena a kiss on the top of her head.

"We live together, idiot."

"Just get ready by 6. In your best dress."

"Um, darling," Lena grabs Kara's hand and pulls her closer.

"Yeah?"

"Is it just dinner?"

"Yeah, just dinner."

"Because usually after a romantic dinner, couples would… urmm.."

"Pumpkin."

"Yeah?"

"It's a no pressure date, okay? Just dinner."

"Okay."

\--

"Darling, will you get the door?"

The knock doesn't stop and Lena looks around the living room to find no one there.

"Kara?"

Puzzled, Lena walks to the door to open it, only to find her girlfriend standing outside with a grin on her face.

"Hi. I’m here to pick you up."

"Idiot."

"You look beautiful," Kara says with a warm smile.

"Thanks. Also, you've seen me in this dress before," Lena says as she looks down at her dress.

"Yet you still look beautiful every time. Shall we?"

Kara offers an arm and Lena happily links it with hers.

\--

"Are you sure you don't want to get a cab? It's a pretty long walk," Kara asks about 5 minutes into their walk.

"I love walking with you."

"I feel like I'm being a bad date if I let you walk in those heels."

"You're doing fine, darling. You can carry me home, right?"

"I could carry you from the kitchen to the bedroom, not 10 blocks home, pumpkin."

\--

"Here?" Lena points to the French cuisine restaurant when Kara stops.

"You've been? It's my first time here."

"A few times before,” Lena says and whispers to Kara, “This place is expensive, darling."

"I know, I checked the menu," Kara whispers back and proceeds to walk towards the restaurant.

Lena grabs her arm to stop her from going in, "We can go to other places."

Kara smiles and gently places her hands on Lena’s shoulders, "Let me worry about the price, I'm the one taking you on a date."

“And as your date, I'm telling you, we can go to other places. Like, Big Belly Burger! You love that place.”

“I'm not taking you to Big Belly Burger on our first romantic dinner date!” Kara laughs lightly and brings her hands down to grab Lena’s hands to reassure her, “Lena, let me do this.”

“Sorry, worrying about the price is not a good start for a romantic date, huh?”

Kara takes a step closer to Lena and whispers, “Today, I'm just a girl treating her girlfriend to a nice dinner. Can we do that?”

“Okay. Today, I'm just a girl having a dinner date with my girlfriend.”

“Good, let's go in.”

\--

" _ Now  _ I want that expensive dinner," Lena says in an annoyed tone as Kara puts down the tray of burgers on their table.

“How should I know you need reservations to get a table? I thought we could just wait by the bar until a table is free,” Kara explains as she takes a seat opposite Lena in the booth.

“It's a 5 star French cuisine restaurant with a one month wait-list, of course you need a reservation!”

“We can pretend this is a French cuisine,” Kara grins as she gestures towards their Big Belly Burgers meal set.

“It’s burgers and fries, how is this a French cuisine?”

Kara clears her throat, pretends to twirl a fake moustache and starts to talk in a fake French accent, “Mademoiselle, here we have pan-seared tenderized meat served on a hearty wheat bun, layered with crunchy fresh lettuce.”

Lena just laughs at Kara’s impersonation, shaking her head slightly at how Kara is butchering the French accent.

“It is served with a rich texture of tomato puree.”

“Just say ketchup,” Lena smiles widely as Kara goes on.

“It comes with a side of crispy fried potatoes, handpicked from the finest potato farm, or as the French would call it, le potato fromage.”

“I’m pretty sure fromage is cheese.”

“And here, we have something sweet and creamy,” Kara points to their drink, “a perfect blend of fresh strawberries, milk and ice cream. Je m’appelle strawberry milkshake.”

“You basically just said ‘My name is strawberry milkshake’.”

“Oui oui.”

“Idiot,” Lena laughs and Kara just smiles, happy that she made her girlfriend laugh with her terrible French impression.

Lena takes a bite of her burger and looks around with concern, so Kara asks, “What’s wrong?”

“I'm way too overdressed for Big Belly Burger.”

Kara takes off her blazer, gets out of her booth and drapes her blazer over Lena, “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“Sorry, we couldn't have expensive French cuisine for our romantic date,” Kara says as she sits down again.

“I like this better.”

“Really?”

“Anything's a French cuisine when it's described by you.”

They both smile at each other as they eat their burgers, their legs flirting with one another under the table.

“So, I got good news,” Kara says after she takes a sip of her milkshake, “Well, I don’t know if it’s going to be good or not. I got news.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to be a part time lecturer.”

“What?”

“I’ll be teaching Intro to Journalism next semester at National City University.”

“Darling, that’s great!”

“I know, I’m excited. They said I have to start part time first, and they will evaluate me after a semester. If they still want me, I could get a proper teaching certification and be on board with them full time.”

“You’re perfect for this job. I’m sure you’ll do a great job teaching the future minds about journalism.”

“Right? I can’t wait to share my knowledge, teach them how to recognize good stories, to share my interviewing skills, how to conduct research and develop your sources and…” Kara pauses and looks at Lena, “I’m so excited but I’m so scared too. What if I suck at teaching?”

“Don’t think that before you even start. I’m so happy that you’re giving this a try. I think teaching is awesome.”

“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore for the way I ruined our first date?”

“I think the way this date is going is so on brand for you.” 

“Unplanned, random and spontaneous?”

“That’s you,” Lena smiles. She takes a last bite of her burger and shoves her fries to Kara, who happily eats it.

“Do you have any more unplanned, random or spontaneous things you want to spring on me tonight?”

“Well, I was thinking of getting you flowers, maybe dance a little, or get a singing telegram!”

“Hard pass on the singing telegram, but I wouldn’t mind flowers.”

Kara takes the paper liner from their tray and starts to fold it. Lena just stares as Kara is fully concentrating on the folding, the same concentrated look she gives when she’s working. After a few more minutes of folding and twisting the paper, it transforms into a beautiful paper rose. Kara takes the straw from her milkshake and stuck it underneath, turning it into a stem and gives the flower to Lena. 

“I took a course in  _ origami _ .”

“You never cease to surprise me,” Lena smiles as she takes the flower and stops herself from sniffing it. The green and red paper liner makes it look so real Lena almost forgot it’s fake. She looks again at Kara who is smiling back at her, with pure love in her eyes.

“Thank you. This is lovely.”

Kara stands up and offers a hand, gesturing for Lena to grab it.

“What are you doing?”

“Time to dance. I’m random and spontaneous remember?”

“Here? In Big Belly Burger? They don’t even have music.”

“It’s the modern age, pumpkin. I got music on my phone,” Kara opens Spotify on her phone and starts to play a romantic slow song.

Lena shakes her head, “I’m not dancing now, people are staring at us.”

“It’s fine,” Kara shouts to the other customers in the joint, “hey everyone, I’m dancing with my girlfriend here and all of you are free to join us!”

Kara’s declaration was returned with cheers and a few thumbs up, while Lena has her head in her hands, embarrassed by this turn of events.

“Winn, dim the lights,” Kara yells to the cashier.

“We don’t do that here, Kara!” the cashier yells back.

Reluctantly, Lena stands up and stands close to Kara as they sway beside their booth. She whispers, “If the cashier knows you by name you’ve been spending your time here too damn much.”

“What can I say, I’m a regular.”

“What song is this?” Lena asks midway through the song.

“Just some random song in my romantic playlist.”

“You have a romantic playlist?”

“It’s for when I do romantic stuff like this.”

An older couple stands up and joins them on their impromptu dance and Kara nods and smiles at them.

“How do you do this? People just fall for your charm.”

“Are you? Falling for my charm?”

“Every single day.”

When the song is over, an ad starts to play.

“ _ Play the songs you love, skip the ones you don’t! Get a free thirty day trial of Premium _ …”

The elder couple stops dancing and laughs. Lena laughs along and hides her face into Kara’s shoulder, “Are you using Spotify free?”

“They're not getting my money for a premium account.”

Lena nods apologetically at the couple while Kara still holds Lena by the waist, not letting go.

“Why are we still dancing to a Spotify ad?”

“Shh, it’s only 30 seconds, it’ll pass.”

And they continue dancing slowly to the ad, and two more romantic songs after that. It was the best dinner date night Lena has had in her life.

\--

“Hop on my back,” Kara bends over and instructs Lena as they are walking back home.

“It’s fine.”

“Your feet are killing you, hop on my back.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just get on, pumpkin.”

Lena slowly gets on Kara’s back, and they stumble forward a bit as they figure out how to properly do this. Kara bends down again, lower this time, and Lena hugs Kara tight as Kara holds Lena’s legs as she stands up.

“Hold tight,” Kara tells her girlfriend as she starts to walk again.

Lena could feel Kara’s breathing gets faster and more labored, with sweat pouring out on her face. Every once in a while Kara shifts Lena a bit, carefully, so that she won’t drop her girlfriend.

“You're sweating profusely. I can walk from here,” Lena says softly into Kara’s ear.

“We’re almost there. I’m good.”

Lena hugs Kara tighter and closes her eyes. Just taking in this experience of being carried around on Kara’s back. She didn’t even mind the sweat that is soaking through Kara’s shirt, making her damp as well.

When they reach their apartment, Kara is still carrying Lena on her back while they wait for the elevator.

“Drop me, we’re here,” Lena laughs.

“Wait, don’t move. I’m carrying you all the way home.”

When the elevator door opens, Kara bends down, “Press for our floor.”

“You’re so stupid,” Lena scolds her, but she’s secretly loving this.

Opening the apartment door was another challenge as Kara still refused to put Lena down, so Lena has to maneuver her hand into Kara’s pocket to reach for the keys as they figure out how to open the door with two people that are so closely attached to one another.

When the door finally opens, Kara gently puts Lena down and exhales loudly, “Oh my, God. I'm so tired.”

“My hero,” Lena says as she gives Kara a quick kiss.

Kara stretches for a while then heads for their bed and shouts, “Precious, I miss you!!”

“No,” Lena stops her, “you're sweaty! Go take a shower!”

“But I’m so tired…” Kara sulks.

Suddenly, Lena gets shy and looks down as she grabs Kara’s hand and sways it back and forth, “It was a really nice date, thank you.”

“Anytime,” Kara smiles back and chuckles at the affectionate way Lena is swaying her hand back and forth.

“And, uh… after you shower, I think I’m ready.”

“For bed? Yeah, you can go to bed first, I’ll turn off the lights later.”

“No. I’m  _ ready _ .”

Lena stops swaying and looks at Kara with a determined face, hoping her girlfriend gets what she’s trying to say.

“Ready? Ready for…?”

_ Oh. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I actually go full smut or will I trick y'all again? Tune in tomorrow to find out!


	30. night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not a smut writer lmao this is the best you’ll get from me

Kara takes an unusually long time in the shower. It’s not like she really needs to clean herself up, but she finds that her nerves are getting to her. After stepping out of the shower, Kara ponders if she should even wear the towel. If they’re about to do it, might as well step out of the bathroom naked. As she is about to open the door, she changes her mind and mutters to herself, “What are you doing?”

She wraps herself up in a towel, looks in the mirror and whispers to her reflection, “You got this.”

When Kara steps out of the bathroom, Lena is already sitting on the bed in lace satin pajamas, waiting for her.

“Oh, you’re  _ ready _ ready,” Kara comments.

“Stop,” Lena blushes and avoids Kara’s gaze.

“No, no, I like it,” Kara sits down next to Lena and slowly brings her hand up to touch her face, “you look stunning.”

“I’m so nervous,” Lena says in a whisper.

“Me too.”

“Don’t lie.”

Kara takes Lena’s hand and brings it up to her chest.

“Can you feel my heartbeat?”

“It’s beating so fast,” Lena smiles, “why are you nervous? You’ve done this before.”

“Not with you,” Kara smiles and her hand drops to feel Lena’s pajamas, “when did you buy this? It’s so cute.”

“I had it for a few months, just waiting,” Lena smiles and leans closer to Kara to whisper in her ear, “the lingerie matches as well.”

Kara bites her lower lip at Lena’s confession, “Damn. And I’m in just a towel.”

They stare at each other longingly and Kara leans in to give Lena a kiss. Lena closes her eyes and leans in as well.

And their noses bump into each other.

“Wait, I’ll go this way, you go that way,” Kara laughs a bit and instructs.

When they kiss again, it’s so awkward, it was more teeth than lips.

Lena giggles nervously, “What is going on? We’ve kissed before. So many times!”

“I don’t know, I’m so nervous!” Kara panics.

“Stop feeling so nervous! I feel so pressured as it is.”

“Why are you pressured?”

“Well… you have more experience than me.”

“Doesn’t make me an expert in sex. Well, actually…”

Lena slaps Kara’s chest lightly, “Do you want to do this or not?”

“I do! I do! Okay, I know. It’s just so quiet, I’ll play some music,” Kara gets up to get her phone and plays her music.

When she sits back down again, Lena notices, ”Romantic playlist?”

“You know it.”

Kara grabs Lena's shoulders, partly to calm herself down as well, and announces, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Okay.”

“Color check?” Kara asks to reconfirm Lena’s intention.

“Green.”

They start to kiss, better this time, and slowly gets more intense as the music plays on.

“ _ Play the songs you love, skip the ones you don’t! Get a free thirty day _ …”

“Stop, stop, red red red! I am not having sex for the first time with Spotify ads running in the background! Go take my phone!”

Kara just laughs at another roadblock that keeps interrupting her night, “Yes, pumpkin.”

After settling down and playing music with Lena’s premium account, they start to kiss again, but halfway through the makeout session Lena stops and holds Kara back.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Kara asks.

“Sorry, sorry. This is… I’m freaking out, Kara. What if I’m not good at this?”

“I’m not with you for sex. You can change your mind, it’s okay.”

“No, I want this. I’m just freaking out I guess,” Lena smiles nervously.

“Lie down, just relax,” Kara instructs as she gets on top of Lena, “you don’t have to do anything first. At any time you want me to stop, just tell me, okay?”

“Okay.”

Kara drops her towel and starts to kiss Lena, slowly, then gradually picks up the pace. She trails soft kisses down Lena’s jawline and her neck, her hands gently caressing every part of Lena’s body. Kara slowly makes her way down, her tongue teasing every sensitive area Lena never knew she has. Lena clutches Kara’s hair, not knowing what to do with her hands. When Kara’s hand reaches Lena’s underwear, she checks in again with her.

“Color?”

“Green.”

Kara pulls her underwear off and comes back up again to face Lena as she gives more tender kisses, while her fingers travel in between Lena’s legs. 

“I love you,” Kara murmurs to Lena and Lena holds Kara’s face and whispers back, “I love you too,” as she gives an equally passionate kiss. 

While Kara’s fingers are inside Lena, she travels down again, leaving trails of kisses along the way. A careful and skillful play of her tongue and fingers makes Lena moans in delight, and Kara picks up the speed at every little noise.

“Yellow, yellow,” Lena pants.

“Too much?”

“A bit. Just.. don’t stop.”

At Lena’s behest, Kara continues, slower this time, as she allows Lena to savor the feeling. Lena cries out in ecstasy and arches her back, hands gripping the bed sheet tight, as she lets herself feel overwhelmed with a sense of euphoria.

Kara slows down and tenderly kisses every part of Lena’s body, and Lena quivers at every touch. Kara comes back to face Lena again and she smiles happily as she kisses her. Lena can’t help but to smile helplessly against Kara’s lips as well. They laugh softly together and whisper more I love yous into the night.

Kara lies back down to rest and Lena cuddles next to her, resting her head on Kara's chest to listen to Kara's heartbeat that is still beating fast. 

“Was I too loud?” Lena whispers.

“It's fine, my upstairs neighbor doesn't mind the noise.”

“Idiot,” Lena smiles, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You finally saw my garden,” Lena teases.

“Stop! Why do you always bring that back? I regret telling you about it,” Kara laughs.

“Do you want me to return the favor? To your garden?”

Kara smiles at the offer, “If you want to.”

Lena kisses Kara, slowly and surely. Lena’s hand starts to travel south while she gives more hot kisses, her eyes closed as she tries to remember how Kara did it. As Lena’s fingers start to fumble around, Kara smiles into the kiss, “Pumpkin, I don’t mind but, I don’t think that’s the hole you meant.”

Lena stops immediately and covers her face with her hands in embarrassment, “Oh my God, I’m sorry. It was the angle and I wasn’t used to coming from that side and…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, come here.” 

They come closer together, and Kara takes charge of Lena’s hand and guides her, “There.”

When Lena slips inside Kara, Kara lets out a soft moan and whispers, “You can add another finger.”

“Are you sure?”

“Green.”

Kara continues to guide Lena’s hand and directs her, “That’s it, move it like that.”

“You can do it like this,” Kara shows Lena how to pleasure her, as she maneuvers her own hand over Lena’s, guiding her fingers.

Kara lets go of her hand and Lena continues the motion that Kara taught her.

“Not too fast,” Kara directs her girlfriend, “yeah, that’s it. Kiss me.”

Lena leans in for a kiss, her fingers still moving as Kara taught her, and Kara murmurs, “Don’t stop. I’m close.”

When Lena could feel Kara shivering and tightening with her touch, she asks, “Did you?”

“Yeah,” Kara smiles and kisses Lena, “you did amazing.”

Lena grins at the praise, happy to have returned the favor.

“Your turn again,” Kara pushes Lena down gently and gets on top of her.

“What? I thought we were done.”

“Oh, pumpkin, the night just started.”

\--

Their bed sheet is a rumpled mess as Kara lies on her back, chest heaving up and down while she wipes the sweat of her brow with her hand, “Oh, I think I need to take another shower.”

“Can we take a break?” Lena pants heavily, as she tries to catch her breath.

“You need to hydrate, I’ll go grab us some water,” Kara gets up, and without bothering to put on any clothes, she heads for the kitchen.

Lena walks to the kitchen as well, covered in just a blanket, to see Kara drinking water straight from the bottle in front of the refrigerator.

“Get a glass, you look like a cavewoman,” Lena comments on her naked girlfriend.

Kara hits her chest lightly and declares, “You. Drink. Me. Kiss.”

“I said cavewoman, not Tarzan. Give me that bottle,” Lena tells her girlfriend as she opens the cupboard to get a glass.

Kara puts the bottle on the kitchen counter for Lena and bends down to scan their refrigerator, “I’m so hungry.”

“There’s leftover chicken somewhere in there.”

“No, I ate that yesterday. Ugh, there’s nothing in here.”

“I could bake some cookies,” Lena says as she drinks her water.

Kara stands up straight and looks at Lena, “I love you so much.”

“You just love cookies,” Lena rolls her eyes and grabs the peanut butter and brown sugar with one hand, her other hand still holding the blanket to cover her. She stoops down a little to preheat the oven.

Kara comes over and hugs Lena from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder, “How long do cookies take?”

“I’ll make a simple peanut butter cookie. You want to help?”

“Okay.”

“Measure 1 cup of peanut butter and 1 cup of brown sugar,” Lena says as she opens another cupboard and grabs a big bowl, “throw it together in this bowl.”

As Kara measures the ingredients and puts it in the bowl, Lena cracks a large egg into the bowl and throws in 1 teaspoon of baking soda. She gives a wooden spoon to Kara, “Mix it, cavewoman.”

“Me. Mix. You. Watch,” Kara grunts as she imitates a cavewoman.

“You. Idiot. Hurry. Up,” Lena says with the same grunt.

“Oh, I forgot the chocolate chips,” Lena cries out as she watches Kara mix. She opens the refrigerator and grabs the half opened bag, “Did you snack on the chocolate chips?”

Kara just gives a guilty smile and Lena just shakes her head as she pours some into the bowl.

When Kara dips a finger into the batter to steal a taste, Lena scolds her, “Don’t eat the batter! It has raw egg in it.”

“A little bit is fine. It’s so good,” Kara smirks. Something about watching her naked girlfriend licking her finger in their kitchen stirs something back up in Lena. She stays with the feeling as she continues to instruct Kara.

“Divide it into 12 balls,” Lena directs as she takes out the baking tray and places it next to the bowl.

“Why am I doing all the hard work?” Kara pouts and this time it’s Lena’s turn to smirk, “Because you’re the one that wants the cookies.”

Lena takes the oven mitts and passes it to Kara. She sets the oven for 10 minutes and continues to stare at her girlfriend’s body as Kara carefully places the tray of raw cookie balls in the middle of the oven.

Kara kneels down and observes the cookies in the oven as they bake.

“What are you doing? It won’t bake any faster no matter how hard you stare at it, get up.”

“I’m so cold, the oven warms me up.”

Lena squats beside Kara and drapes the blanket to cover them both, “Idiot. Tired of being a naked cavewoman?”

“You’re naked too.”

“I have a blanket covering me, technically not as naked as you,” Lena takes a peek at the timer and back at Kara, eyeing her naked girlfriend, “We still have 9 more minutes.”

“I know,” Kara says, her eyes never shifted from the cookies since she kneeled down.

“I wonder what else we can do in 9 minutes,” Lena smiles suggestively and Kara slowly turns to look at her.

“Cookies can wait,” Kara smirks as she pounces on Lena, right on their kitchen floor.

\--

They rest on the blanket, carefully splayed out on the kitchen floor, as the heat from the oven warms them up. Lena rests on Kara, running her fingers through Kara’s hair.

“Since when did you realize you like me?” Lena asks.

“Specifically? Probably right around when you told me you’re moving out.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“It made me realize I didn’t want to lose you,” Kara says as she takes Lena’s hand and kisses the back of it, “I was so hurt by the idea that you would be leaving.”

“The first night after I moved out, I almost wanted to go back down again. I felt so alone, I almost cried,” Lena confesses.

“Almost? Pumpkin, I was  _ sobbing _ . That was the night I got determined to have you back in my life.”

“Oh, darling,” Lena reaches out to give Kara a deep kiss.

“Although I was telling the truth when I said I probably fell in love with you for the longest time, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself,” Kara smiles.

“Well, you were stalking me even before we met,” Lena teases.

"Says the person who kisses me first."

"Says the person who was too scared to make the first move."

“Says the person who bought me a dress when I won an award,” Kara reminds her.

“Says the person who paid for half my dress to follow me to a gala.”

Kara blinks repetitively in disbelief, “Wait. You knew? Since when?”

“When I bought you the dress, Sam couldn’t stop laughing, so she told me.”

Kara shakes her head lightly and laughs, “I knew Sam couldn’t keep a secret.”

"I think… that was around the time I realized I like you too. When Sam told me that, it made me realize how much you care for me."

"Yeah? Guess Sam's lack of secrecy gave me something good after all," Kara smiles and kisses Lena.

“Speaking of secrets, I… I actually have one.”

“What is it?”

“The day I fell, remember when I blamed you? Because of the hammer thingy you made? So that I could convince you I have to stay with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Actually… I wasn’t just stomping my feet that night.”

Lena has a guilty look on her face as she tells Kara her secret, “I did have a bowling ball and threw it repetitively to the floor.”

Kara sits up excitedly and shouts, “I. KNEW. IT! I knew it!!! Oh, you little devil you,” Kara pinches Lena’s nose lightly, “Where is the bowling ball?”

“I threw it out the same night so you wouldn’t find out. I really needed a place to stay!” Lena defends herself.

“You sneaky little pumpkin,” Kara grins, elated by the revelation. 

Lena asks in a worried tone, “Are you angry?”

“For tricking me? Never. You falling into my life was the best thing that has ever happened to me," Kara kisses Lena and smiles happily.

"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me too."

\--

Lena wakes up to the smell of breakfast and the sound of Kara humming from the kitchen. She grabs Kara's hoodie from the closet and wears it, not bothering to get anything to cover her bottoms as the hoodie is quite large.

"Someone's happy," Lena comments and Kara stops humming.

"No, go back to bed! I was supposed to bring you breakfast in bed."

Lena comes over and hugs Kara's waist from behind, "I had a great night last night. Thank you."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"More than okay," Lena hugs Kara tighter, "I love you so much."

Kara pats Lena's arms that's around her waist, "I love you too. You should back away a bit, I’m frying bacon."

"Darling," Lena calls for her girlfriend when she notices the empty jar on the kitchen counter, "did you finish all the cookies?"

"Er…." Kara starts to think of an excuse when she gets caught, but she wasn't fast enough.

"I only had one!" Lena lets go of the hug and slaps Kara's back, "you finished the rest??"

"Kara. Innocent. Cavewoman. Eat," Kara impersonates her cavewoman from last night while Lena just looks at her with an irritated face.

"Well, cavewoman, if you get so hungry every time we do it, I hope you have room for more cookies tonight."

"Tonight? More cookies?"

"If you want to," Lena smiles mischievously.

"Does it have to be tonight? We can do it during the day," Kara drops the cavewoman accent and replies normally with a teasing smile.

"Okay," Lena walks towards their bedroom and turns around to give a side smile, fingers gesturing for Kara to follow her.

"Really? Now? Wait," Kara quickly turns off the stove and picks up Lena to carry her. Lena yelps slightly and holds Kara tight.

"Can't get enough of me, huh?"

"No, no. Not you. I want cavewoman," Lena looks shy as she averts Kara's gaze and Kara's heart flutters at Lena's request.

"Cavewoman. Eat. Pumpkin."

Lena just laughs as cavewoman Kara carries her to their bed. She basks in the love Kara is showing her, even with her grunts as she pretends to be a cavewoman, it was all done with such care and tenderness that Lena couldn't help but to feel thankful. Thankful that she found someone who loves her, someone who makes her happy, and someone who wants to build a future with her. 

Out of all the people in the world, she's thankful she fell onto Kara. 


	31. spooky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late update but it’s the last one and I kept writing and writing and writing so here it is. Seems like I didn’t want to part with this fic too. :’)

“Why do we have to do this again?”

“It’s the suburbs, pumpkin. We have to greet the neighbors. Plus, your peanut butter cookies are to die for. They would love it.”

When they reach the neighbor’s door, Lena takes a deep breath before she presses the doorbell.

The door opens to a middle-aged couple and Kara greets them, “Hi, I’m Kara Danvers, we just moved in next door. This is my roommate, Lena.”

“I told you to stop introducing me to people like that!” Lena scolds Kara and turns to their neighbors, “I’m so sorry, my wife likes to make jokes in social situations. Hi, I’m Lena, we’re the Danvers. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi, I’m Dinah Lance and this is my husband Quentin. Welcome to the neighborhood,” the lady greets them and bends down to look at the little boy who is hugging Kara’s leg, “and who is this little one?”

“This is our son, Conner. Conner, say hi,” Kara nudges her son lightly but he doesn’t budge, “sorry, he’s a bit shy.”

“We have two daughters, although they’re a lil bit older to play with Conner,” Dinah stands up again and offers both Kara and Lena, “but they don’t mind babysitting if you need babysitters.”

“That sounds great! Oh, here, this is from us,” Lena gives them a small jar of cookies, “I hope you’re not allergic to peanut butter.”

“We love peanut butter cookies, thank you so much.”

They exchange more pleasant greetings and bid each other farewell. When they wave goodbye from the neighbor’s front porch, Kara whispers to Lena, “That wasn’t so bad, right?”

“One down, nine more houses to go.”

“You okay there, buddy?” Kara asks as she picks Conner up.

“I’m not shy, Mama. You told me not to talk to strangers,” he says in a pout.

Lena just smiles and touches Conner’s face gently, “Sweetheart, they’re our neighbors, you can say hi to them.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

“Let’s hit the next house.”

\--

“Conner’s in bed. I think he loves his new room,” Kara says to Lena who is going through some documents on the desk in their bedroom.

“Are you sure we have to send him to public school? We can afford the private school, we still have the trust fund money,” Lena looks over the spreadsheet again.

“We didn’t even touch the trust fund money when we bought this house. Let’s keep it for his college,” Kara puts her arms over Lena’s shoulder to reassure her, “Plus, we went to see the private school and he didn’t like it. I think we should send him somewhere he’s comfortable.”

“Can’t you keep homeschooling him?” Lena asks as she rests her head on Kara’s arm that’s draped over her.

“He’s getting smarter than me, I can’t keep up.”

“He’s 8, darling.”

“He’s so smart for his age. He's basically a mini you.”

“No, he's not. He's more you than me.”

“The other day he wanted an afternoon snack, so I made him nuggets, but he requested apples instead. What 8-year-old wants apples instead of chicken nuggets?”

“Darling, stop feeding him those processed foods so much.”

“It’s okay,” Kara kisses Lena at the top of her head, “I ate the nuggets.”

“What would I ever do without my two kids?” Lena ponders.

“You only have one kid.”

“Two. The one I birthed," Lena stands up and kisses Kara on the cheek, "and the one I married.” 

\--

“She’s so cute, Kel,” Kara says as she carries Maya while Lena just coos at her.

“Don’t drop my baby,” Alex warns Kara, reminding her of the incident.

“That was one time! It was an accident! He looks fine now. Right, Jeremy?”

The 12-year-old looks at Kara in disbelief, “You dropped me when I was a baby??”

“See? He’s fine. Doesn’t even remember a thing.”

“I was just a baby, Aunt Kara!” Jeremy huffs and raises his hands, while the adults all laugh at his gesture. He goes upstairs to his room, where Conner follows. He always looks up to his older cousin, following him wherever he goes.

“Where are my grandkids?” Eliza asks when she comes out of the kitchen with a tray of tea. Lena stands up and helps her pour out the tea for everyone.

“Jeremy is in his room, Conner followed him like usual. You want to hold Maya, mom?” Kara asks as Eliza smiles and opens her arms to receive the baby.

Alex and Kelly look over warmly at Eliza who is holding her granddaughter. Alex grips Kelly’s hand tight and smiles at Kara. Kara notices and smiles back, just enjoying this silent moment between them. It seems with age, they have toned down their bickering, and just rejoice in the moments with their family all together.

“Mommy, Mama, can I follow Jeremy to go to his friend’s house? They said they’ll be playing a new game,” Conner asks as he climbs down the stairs with Jeremy right behind him.

“What kind of game, Jeremy?” Lena asks.

“It’s just a racing game, Aunt Lena.”

“You can go if you promise to listen to Jeremy, okay? You have your watch with you?”

“GPS activated,” Conner smiles as he shows Lena his watch.

“Bye, sweetheart. Have fun.”

Kara has her arm over Lena on the couch as they watch Eliza coddle Maya, “I want one.”

“We already have one.”

“I want another one.”

“Then, you carry it this time.”

“But you look so good with your pregnancy glow.”

“No, I felt bloated and sick the entire time. And I don’t want what happened in the delivery room to ever happen again! That was embarrassing,” Lena says loudly followed by laughter from Alex and Kelly who clearly remembered what happened.

“Everyone had a good time!” Kara defends herself.

“Not me! My legs were spread out, I just had a baby come out of me and you had to blast ‘Circle of Life’ and high five all the nurses!”

At Lena’s rant, everybody starts laughing, even Eliza. Maya stirs in her sleep when the atmosphere is filled with raucous laughter.

“Not too loud, you’ll wake the baby,” Eliza reminds everyone.

“Yeah, Kara. It’s your turn to carry a baby,” Kelly says in a softer tone.

“You didn’t take turns,” Kara smirks and subtly points out how Kelly carried both Jeremy and Maya.

“That’s because my wife gets daily back rubs and foot massages for every single day that she’s pregnant. Right, honey?” Alex confirms with Kelly and Kelly kisses her, “That’s right. And I’ll do it again.”

Lena looks at Kara and smiles, “I’ll get pregnant again if I can get daily back rubs and foot massages.”

Kara ignores Lena’s requests and lies her head on the couch, “Eh, too much work. I think one kid is enough.”

Lena hits Kara lightly on her chest, shakes her head and says in a fond tone of voice, “Idiot.”

\--

“Uncle Lex!” Conner runs to Lex and hugs him tight. 

“Hey there, kiddo. You’re so big now!”

Lena follows right behind and gives Lex a hug as well. Lex gives Lena a kiss on the cheek and looks at Kara, “Hi, sis. Kara.”

“Lex,” Kara greets Lex as she sits down immediately on the metal chair. The visitor’s room is buzzing with other inmates and their own visitors.

Kara sits by quietly while she just watches Lena and Lex having a conversation, mostly Lena just telling Lex about Conner. Conner interrupts sometimes to tell Lex his stories too.

After half an hour of talking, Conner pulls Lena by her sleeve.

“You want to get something from the vending machine?” Lena asks and Conner nods.

Kara is about to get up to bring Conner but Lena stops her, “It’s okay, I’ll go with him.”

Kara sits idly by and taps her fingers on the table, while she waits for her wife and son to come back.

“Still awkward around me, huh?” Lex points out, “It’s been almost 15 years since your article, Kara.”

“Not awkward just....” Kara pauses and admits, “yeah, it’s awkward.”

“Are you visiting mother next?” Lex asks and Kara nods at the question, “Lena wants to visit the both of you today before Conner starts school next week.”

“She must be happy getting to know Conner.”

“He’s a great kid.”

“I know. I’m just as happy you let Conner come to see me.”

“Lena wanted Conner to get to know you.”

“Not you?”

Kara wonders if she should tell Lex the truth, and she does anyway, “I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Plus, Lena has a point, Conner has a right to know his uncle.”

“I can’t thank you enough. When I get out of here, drink’s on me,” Lex promises. 

Kara just laughs softly, “How long do I have to wait? 25 more years?”

“20 with good behavior,” Lex smiles.

“Conner can drink by then.”

“The three of us then. Me, you, Conner, and beers.”

“Sure,” Kara looks down and smiles, wondering if it’s even possible to imagine such a future.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“No, not just this, thank you,” Lex reiterates, “For everything. For giving Lena the family she deserves.”

Kara looks over at Lena who is still by the vending machine with Conner, “She deserves the world.”

\--

“Ma, is that?” Conner cries out excitedly when Kara shows him the pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries.

“Good luck breakfast! For your first day of school!”

“I love good luck breakfast!”

Lena, however, is fussing over the preparation for their first day and checks Conner’s bag, “Do you have everything?”

“I double checked everything last night, Mommy. Just like how you taught me.”

“His lunch,” Kara points to the sandwich bag on the counter but Lena already has it in her hands, “Got it.”

Kara just watches as her son gulfs down the pancakes. “Slow down, buddy. Excited for your first day?”

With his mouth full Conner replies, “Nora said we’ll be in the same class, and I can’t wait to sit in a classroom!”

“Which one is Nora?” Lena asks as she stabs the strawberry on her plate, no appetite for the pancakes.

“Three doors down on the right,” Kara replies and gestures wildly to her own hair, “the dad has blond hair.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay. Do you have class today?”

“Yeah, just one class in the morning. It’s okay, I’ll make sure to pick him up. Eat something other than strawberries for breakfast, please.”

Lena takes a few bites of the pancake and Kara smiles. They both look over at Conner who is enjoying his own meal immensely.

“Buddy,” Kara bends down and looks at Conner, “I’ll pick you up at 2, okay? Do you remember our meeting point?”

“The big tree by the flagpole.”

“That’s right. Are you done with your pancakes?”

Conner nods and Kara points him to the sink, “Okay, go wash your hands.”

“Go get ready and wait for Mommy in the car,” Lena instructs as she eats a few more bites of her pancake.

“Bye, buddy,” Kara kisses Conner on his head, “Have a great day at school.”

Kara takes away the empty plate in front of Lena and wipes down the table. Lena just watches her wife in the pink apron who is cleaning up the kitchen table and she just chuckles to herself.

“What’s wrong?” Kara asks when she notices.

“Do you remember our first picnic?”

“The one we had in Midvale?”

“No, my very first one. Where you dragged me out of our apartment and all we had was yogurt and beer.”

Kara smiles to herself at the memory, “Yeah, why?”

“Do you remember how I said you look like a nice girl, like you have the image of a devoted wife? Cleaning and cooking at home?”

Kara stops her cleaning, looks down at her apron, and back at Lena, “Oh. My. God. What did you do to me?”

“Have a nice day at home, devoted wife. Wait for me in bed when I come back,” Lena teases as she kisses Kara goodbye.

\--

“Sweetheart?” Lena stops the car by the roadside when she sees Conner clutching his stomach.

“I’m having a stomachache.”

“Oh, it’s just first day jitters, sweetheart.”

When Conner doesn’t reply, Lena starts to worry, “Do you want to go home? I’ll drive you home right now. We can continue homeschooling.”

“Mama said I have to go to school or else the only friend I will ever have is her.”

“Mama has a point,” Lena agrees, it does sound like something that Kara would say.

Lena, however, can’t stop worrying about her son. Watching him having the jitters is making her nervous as well. Lena knows it’s not healthy to coddle her son and shield him from the world yet she can’t help but to feel like the overprotective mother that she is.

“Mommy,” Conner calls out for Lena.

“Yeah?”

“Are you having a stomach ache too?”

“Yeah,” Lena smiles as she notices she’s clutching her own stomach as well, “I’m sorry, you got the nerves from me.”

“Mama said I got your smarts too.”

“That’s right, you’re so smart. Like Mommy,” Lena smiles even wider and tries to calm Conner down, “We got this, right? You can survive school. We’re smart people.”

Conner nods, “We got this.”

Lena continues to drive and drops Conner off in front of his new school.

“You remember your classroom?” Lena asks and Conner nods.

“Be nice to your teachers. Make some friends. Go be a kid.”

Conner hugs Lena goodbye, “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Have a great first day.”

\--

“Is Conner asleep?” Lena asks the moment she arrives home from work.

“Yes, I put him to bed half an hour ag—”

Lena grabs Kara and kisses her, hard. So hard she shoves Kara against the wall, and kisses her more while her hand is on Kara’s throat, giving a slight pressure.

“Hello, pumpkin,” Kara whispers breathlessly.

Lena shoves Kara even harder and whispers to her ear, “Don’t hello pumpkin me. You know exactly what you were doing when you sent me all those pictures.”

Kara gives a smug smile, “I was just being a devoted wife, remember? Which one was your favorite? Mine was the one of me lying on the bed wearing nothing but an apron.”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Lena directs and Kara easily obeys as they make their way to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind them.

\--

"Mama, who's my daddy?" Conner asks Kara on the couch one Sunday morning.

"I’m your daddy," Kara answers without looking up from the newspaper.

"What?"

"Kara!" Lena yells at her wife from the kitchen, having overhead the entire conversation.

"You don't have one, I picked you off the streets," Kara gives another answer after getting yelled at.

"What!?" Conner shouts in disbelief.

"Kara!!!" Lena yells even louder as she walks into the living room and sits beside Conner, "Sweetheart, what's with the sudden question?"

"Nora told me she has a daddy and a mommy. And when I said I don’t have a daddy she said I was weird."

Lena rubs her son's arm up and down gently to put his mind at ease, "Well, some families have a daddy and a mommy. You just happened to be in a family with two mommies."

"A Mama and a Mommy."

"That's right. And there's families with two daddies, or just one daddy or one mommy. Some families just have grandparents or nannies. Not everyone is like Nora's family, and that's okay. Do you understand that?"

"I think so."

"And it’s not weird at all. Maybe Nora just doesn’t know about all the different families, so you can tell her that, okay?"

"Okay."

Lena picks Conner up and places him in her lap, hugging him tight, "The most important thing in a family is that we all love each other. Like how I love you."

"I love you too, Mommy."

Kara, who has been listening to everything from the couch, clears her throat loudly and Conner turns around to look at her.

"I love you too, Ma."

\--

"The real struggle is that people don't realize how limited we are in our own opinions and our own thoughts because we are extremely limited. We're limited by our experience, by the information that we consume, by our upbringing… and the fact is that we don't know how much we don't know."

Lena opens the door and walks inside Kara's office, "Darling, we need to…"

She stops when she sees Kara talking in front of her computer, with a finger in the air, signaling Lena to stop talking.

"Yet we formulate all of our opinions on those very limited sets of experiences. And the way that journalism works to liberate that is that you get so much exposure to so many different points of view, so many different contexts, so many walks of life and current issues, that it sort of opens up your mind. And it is our job as journalists to properly convey the truth and open up the minds of others as well."

Lena mouths out the word _sorry_ and she slowly closes the door.

"Sorry, I didn’t know you had a class," Lena apologizes when Kara walks into their bedroom an hour later.

"Not a class, I was just on my student’s podcast. No biggie. Why?"

Lena tries to remember why she barges into Kara's office earlier but her memory fails her, "I forgot what I wanted to say."

Kara smiles, "You're so cute."

"Being forgetful is cute now?"

"It is when it's you."

Kara jumps on the bed and lies besides Lena, "Pumpkin, I've been thinking. Now that Conner is in school, I think I want to pursue that PhD I've been talking about."

"That's a great idea. I'm sorry you had to put that on hold to homeschool Conner."

"Are you kidding me? I get to spend time with my son and wait for you at home every single day. It's the best sabbatical ever."

"Darling, after you get this PhD, you'll be a professor?"

"Yeah, and I get to teach more advanced classes as well. Maybe do my own courses and create my own syllabus."

"Mmm, Professor Danvers," Lena comes closer to Kara and whispers, "teach me something."

"Yeah, what do you want me to teach you?" Kara smirks.

"Teach me how to satisfy you."

"You have to take a course first, pumpkin."

"Is there a course on Pleasure 101?"

"Are you sure you want to enroll for that class? You look equipped for an advanced class."

"I want to know the basics, Professor Danvers."

"Oh, I'll teach you the basics," Kara bites her lower lips as she gets even closer to Lena, "the first lesson is 'The Art of Fingering'."

"Oh, fingering! Fingers! I just remembered why I was looking for you! Midvale food fair is in two weeks, Conner wants to try the fish fingers and custard this time around. We need to tell your family we're visiting."

Kara lies on her back and sighs, "Way to kill the mood, pumpkin."

"Sorry," Lena laughs regretfully as she gives a few consoling pats to her wife's arm, "teach me more next time, Professor."

\--

"Mommy! Mama! Where are you?" Conner calls out for his parents.

When Lena comes out to the living room she stops in her tracks when she sees what Conner is carrying. Kara runs over when she realizes it as well.

"Can we keep it? Please?" Conner begs as he holds a puppy.

"Buddy, we've talked about this. Mommy is allergic," Kara looks back at Lena who looks helpless as she can't come nearer to them. "We can't keep it. Where did you get the puppy anyway?"

"Mister West gave it to me outside! He said his dog just gave birth to lots of puppies and he let me keep one!"

"Okay, let's go back to Mister West's house and return the puppy, okay?"

"But I want to keep it!"

"I'm sorry, buddy. Mommy's allergic, remember?"

"This is stupid! I hate this!"

Conner stomps out of the house and Kara follows. But not before she looks back at her wife, "Go stay in our room. I'll return the puppy and clean up here later."

"But Conner…"

"Just stay in our room, Lena. I don't want your allergies to get worse. Please? I'll handle this."

"Okay."

\--

"I've talked to West and he took back the puppy. The living room is also clean. I think I've vacuumed everything."

Lena was sitting on the bed, not reacting to anything she is saying, so Kara walks and raises her hand to her wife's face. She wants to check whether Lena's allergy was triggered at all.

"Are you okay? Are you itchy? Can you breathe?"

"Just let him keep the puppy! I'll stay in a separate room, I'll take my pills, I'll, I'll…" Lena rants with tears in her eyes, her feelings bursting open at Kara's touch.

Kara crouches down and looks at Lena directly, "Don't do that. You have sacrificed so much for this family. You don't deserve to be stuck in a separate room. You deserve to be in a room with all of us. I'll talk to Conner."

"I don't want to be a bad mom, Kara. He already likes you more than me."

"That's not true, you’re not a bad mom."

"Of course I'm the bad mom, Kara. You’re the fun mom. He's your buddy. I'm the mom who won't let him keep his puppy."

"Don’t say that. We're a family, remember? Who are we?" Kara reminds Lena.

"Best parents ever."

"That's right, and the best parents ever don't have bad moms or fun moms. You’re mom mom. You keep us together, you keep us in check, you’re Mommy. Also, you carried him. If anything, he should like you more."

"But he doesn't."

"Then, he's a stupid kid."

"Don't call our son stupid!"

"If he doesn't love his Mommy, I'm disowning him," Kara makes a joke with a straight face, but she can’t fight off the smile that spreads across her lips. 

"Kara, stop!" Lena laughs, shaking her head slightly at the inappropriate joke her wife is making.

Kara brings her hands up and touches Lena’s face again gently, her thumbs wiping away traces of tears. 

"I’ll go talk to him, okay? Trust me, he doesn’t hate you. He just doesn't fully understand yet. Not to mention he has a really short temper."

"Gee, I wonder where he gets that from?" 

"He gets your stomach aches whenever he's nervous."

"At least he has your wits," Lena smiles with a twinkle in her eyes.

"And your brain," Kara smiles back.

"The best and the worst of us."

"He's perfect."

"I know."

"He's a good kid. I’ll go talk to him, okay?" Kara kisses Lena’s forehead and stands up.

"Thank you."

\--

"Hey, buddy."

When Conner sees his Mama coming into his room, he pouts and climbs onto the bed to lie down, facing away from Kara. Kara sits by the edge of the bed, her hand gently placed on Conner’s leg.

"Listen, you understand that Mommy is allergic to dogs, right? Do you know what happens if you play with a dog around Mommy?"

When Conner is still giving Kara the silent treatment, Kara continues.

"At first, Mommy will start to sneeze. And her nose will get red like she has a cold. Remember when you had that cold? That wasn't fun, right? And Mommy will feel like that all the time. Then, if it continues, Mommy will get rashes, it's like these red patches on your skin and it gets really itchy. Mommy will start to scratch all the time, and she'll be really uncomfortable. Do you want that to happen to Mommy?"

Conner turns around and answers softly, "No…" 

"And if Mommy stays with a dog in the house, Mommy can get really sick."

"How sick, Ma?"

"Long time ago, I had a dog. And I was being stubborn like you right now and kept the dog in our house. One day, Mommy got sick, like really sick. She couldn't breathe and she had to go to the hospital. I knew she was allergic and I still kept the dog. I was being such a dick back then."

Conner sits himself up and calls Kara out, "Don't say that word, Ma. That’s a dollar in the swear jar."

"Sorry. But I was,” Kara looks at Conner and gives a sad smile to her son, “I did a lot of stupid stuff back then but the number one thing I regretted the most was harming your Mommy like that. We don't want Mommy to get sick, do we?"

"I don't want Mommy to get sick."

"I know you don't. You're not a dick like me, you're a good kid."

"You said the word again, Ma."

"Sorry. Can you go tell Mommy you're sorry for yelling? I know you didn't mean to."

"Okay."

When Conner gets up, Kara says, "Then bring her to the kitchen, okay? I'll make you both some hot chocolate."

Conner stops just by the door and grins, "Extra marshmallows in mine?" 

"You know it, buddy. Just don't tell Mommy."

"I think she knows."

"Just don't tell her anyway."

"Okay,” Conner agrees and reminds Kara, “You owe the swear jar three dollars."

Kara looks at Conner with confusion, "Why three? I only said dick twice."

"That's the third dollar," Conner points to Kara and laughs.

"You're too smart for an 8-year-old, do you know that?" Kara shouts as Conner leaves the room.

\--

“I'm sorry, Mommy. I don't want you to get sick,” Conner comes into the room and hugs Lena immediately. Lena hugs her son back as hard as she could and kisses him on the top of his head, holding back her tears.

“Mama told me if you're around dogs too much, you can get sick. That's why we don't have a dog.”

“Yes, that's right. I'm sorry, Conner.”

“I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't mean it.”

"Oh, sweetheart. I forgive you. I'm sorry we can't keep a dog in this house."

“It's okay, Mommy. I love you more than any dog in the world.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Lena breaks off the hug and looks at her son’s face who is genuinely sorry. 

“How about… we go to the park next weekend, and you can play with the dogs there? How’s that sound? We just have to ask their owners nicely,” Lena offers a compromise to her son.

“Won't you get sick?”

“I’ll watch from afar, don't worry.”

“Really, Mommy?” Conner smiles and Lena swears to herself that she would do anything to protect this smile of his.

“I’ll ask your Mama to supervise you. The both of you can play with the dogs and I’ll take lots of videos and pictures of you. Is that okay? And you'll wash and clean your hands after playing with the dogs, alright?”

“I can do that. Thank you, Mommy!”

“My smart boy,” Lena hugs and kisses Conner again.

“Mama told me to bring you to the kitchen. She's making hot chocolate.”

“It's late, why is she making hot chocolates?? And is she putting extra marshmallows in yours? It's almost your bedtime.”

“I told Mama you knew about that,” Conner leans in and whispers, “don’t tell Mama I said that.”

Lena just smiles, “It’ll be our secret. You can have just a few sips, okay? And then it's time to brush your teeth and get you to bed.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Conner agrees and takes Lena’s hand to pull her towards the kitchen. Kara greets them with two mugs of hot chocolates and a smile. Conner happily gulps down his drink, and tells Lena how Kara owes three dollars in the swear jar. Kara looks at his son in disbelief as he rats her out while Lena just smiles at the banter between the two of them. After Lena reads Conner a storybook and puts him to bed, she finds Kara and gives her a big hug.

“Thank you, Mama.”

Kara hugs Lena back and kisses the side of her head, “Any time, Mommy.”

\--

Lena sits back down in her office chair and rubs her shoulders. Back-to-back meetings make her miss those days in her labs. Facing equipment and other engineers was way less stressful than facing spreadsheets and CEOs. She looks at her phone on the table and sees a bunch of messages and voicemails.

She lets the voicemails play on loudspeaker as she checks her emails from this morning.

“ _Pumpkin! I picked up Conner from school. He wants a desk! Did you remember our desk agreement? I almost forgot about it! You owe me a futuristic desk! Love you!_ ”

“ _Pumpkin! I decided instead of buying a ready made desk, we’re going to build a new one! Let me know if this is a good idea or a bad idea!_ ”

“ _Pumpkin! Sorry I forgot you have back-to-back meetings today. I bought a small desk from IKEA! We’re going to build it today!_ ”

“ _Mommy, Mama is not following the instructions or listening to me. Please come back home. I don’t think Mama can build this desk for me._ ”

Lena laughs when Conner left a voicemail, she could just imagine Kara struggling to build the desk back home. She picks up her phone to look at the messages. It was mostly from Kara, sending her pictures of various desks, and then more pictures of her smiling with a screwdriver, with Conner in the background looking worried.

Lena picks up the phone and calls Kara, “Hi darling, sorry I just finished my meeting. I got all your messages.”

“You’re too late. Desk is bought and built. It looks great.”

“Are you sure? Let me talk to Conner.”

“Do you not trust me?”

“Just pass the phone to him.”

“Hi, Mommy.”

“How’s your desk, sweetheart?”

Lena could hear Conner start to whisper so Kara wouldn’t overhear him, “It looks unstable, can you fix it Mommy?”

“You better be telling your Mommy that your desk looks great!” Kara yells in the background.

“I’ll fix it later when I come home, okay? How was school? What did you learn today?”

“Today we learned about the solar system! I already memorized all the planets!”

“That’s amazing, sweetheart. I’ll try to come home early and fix your desk and you can tell me more about the planets, okay? Can you pass the phone back to Mama?”

Without missing a beat, Kara admits her mistake immediately the moment she has her phone back, “Fine, I’ll leave the desk alone. Please fix it when you come home. I love you.”

“I love you too, idiot.”

\--

Lena walks into the kitchen to hear the end of a call between Kara and someone.

“Next time you’re in town, coffee’s on me! Thanks again for the call. I’m so happy for you! Bye!”

“Who are you happy for?” Lena asks.

Kara has a huge grin on her face as she replies, “Do you remember my student, Nia? Nia Nal?”

“Was she the one who wrote the immigration article you showed me last month?”

“Yes! That article won the SGCW Excellence in Journalism award. The same one I won all those years ago.”

“Wow!”

“Right? And she called me up personally to thank me. Said my class was the one that inspired her to pursue this career,” Kara shakes her head in disbelief, her smile never drops since the call.

“That’s amazing, darling,” Lena comes to Kara and kisses her, “you must be so happy.”

“It’s weird, it feels like I’m the one who won the award. I’m so proud of her.”

“You should be,” Lena smiles, “my wife, shaping the minds of tomorrow.”

Kara hugs Lena, “Thank you, pumpkin. Ahhh, I’m so happy. Let’s go out for some ice cream.”

Conner runs out of his room and stops right in front of his parents, “I heard ice cream.”

Lena bends down and gives a teasing look to Conner, “You didn’t hear me when I told you to clean your room, but you can hear your Mama mumbling out the word ice cream from the kitchen?”

“I’ll… clean my room after some ice cream?” Conner smiles cheekily and Lena relents.

“One ice cream. And if you don’t clean your room by today, that will be your last ice cream ever,” Lena warns.

Conner looks at Kara for help but Kara just tousles his hair and grabs his coat, “Ready for your last ice cream ever?”

Conner has his eyes wide open at Kara’s words, “No! I’ll clean my room after! I promise!”

Both Kara and Lena laugh at Conner’s response as the three of them head out of the house for some ice cream. 

\--

“I got Lance's kid to babysit Conner tonight,” Kara says in a sultry voice as she hugs Lena from behind.

“What’s tonight?”

“Are you pretending to forget like our 5th anniversary or have you really forgotten about tonight like our 8th anniversary?”

“I’m kidding,” Lena turns around and kisses Kara, “I know it's our 10th anniversary. Wow, I can’t believe we’ve been married for 10 years.”

“It feels longer,” Kara smiles.

“I love you just the same,” Lena smiles back softly and rubs the tip of her nose with Kara’s.

“I love you too. Pick you up at 6?”

Lena laughs at Kara’s yearly tradition, “Sure, 6 it is. Did you make sure you got the reservations this time?”

“Very funny,” Kara smiles.

\--

Kara puts down the tray of burgers and fries on the table and sits down opposite Lena in the booth.

“I can’t believe the cashier remembers us from last year. We must be the only idiots celebrating their anniversaries in Big Belly Burger,” Lena laughs.

“I think they remember us as the idiots who dance in Big Belly Burger every year,” Kara laughs as well.

“Let’s never stop coming here,” Lena says with a smile, the same smile that makes Kara’s heart flutter every time.

“Every year, until we’re old and wrinkly,” Kara smiles back, “or until this place closes down. Whichever comes first.”

Lena snorts, then laughs before she takes a bite out of her burger, “Don’t jinx this place!”

\--

“Happy Halloween-a-Birthday, Mommy!” Conner shouts as he jumps onto the bed, waking Lena up.

“Oof, sweetheart. Careful,” Lena says and grabs Conner, pulling him into a snuggle, “Thank you. Where’s my birthday kiss?”

“Let me go,” Conner says as he struggles to wiggle his way out of Lena’s embrace, embarrassed by the love and affection his Mommy is showing him, “I’m a big boy now.”

Lena plants lots of sloppy kisses on his face, “You will always be my little baby.”

“Come on, get up! Today I helped Mama with your birthday breakfast!”

“Yeah? What did you make?”

“You have to see it for yourself,” Conner grins and skillfully slips out of Lena’s arms when she loosens her hold, “I’m free!”

“Not for long, come here!” Lena jumps out of bed and chases Conner down.

When Lena steps into the kitchen she has the shock of her life, “Oh my God.”

Kara points to all the orange colored meals on the kitchen island, “We have pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin pies, pumpkin breakfast casseroles, pumpkin french toast, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spiced lattes, and my specialty pumpkin chocolate chunk pancakes!”

Lena looks at all the food, and again at her wife and son, both grinning widely looking proud and showing off their work.

“You do know pumpkin is not actually my favorite, right? You only call me that because I wore that orange sweater that one time.”

“What??” Conner says in a shock as he looks at Kara, feeling betrayed by Lena’s admission, “Ma, you told me you call Mommy pumpkin because she loves pumpkin!”

“Did I? Oops,” Kara laughs as Conner crosses his arms and pouts.

“Guess we’re having pumpkins for all our meals today?” Lena asks with a raise of an eyebrow.

“I think we have enough to last the whole week,” Kara laughs and comes over to kiss Lena, “Happy Halloween-a-birthday, pumpkin. I love you.”

\--

“Is this your costume?” Lena cries out exasperatedly when she sees Conner in just a white sheet with the holes cut out for his eyes. She looks at Kara angrily, “You had months to work on it!”

“It’s a classic!”

“It’s lazy!” Lena takes a closer look at her son’s costume, “This looks like you just cut out the holes minutes ago. Kara Danvers, did you forget our son’s costume?”

“I swear, this is the costume he wants!”

Lena turns around, closes her eyes and whispers silently to remind herself what she is putting up with, “I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her…”

Conner nudges Lena and says, “Mommy, I really wanted this costume. I asked for this from Mama.”

“Really, sweetheart? Are you sure you’re not just covering for your Mama again?”

“Yeah, don’t you like this costume? I’m a spooky ghost!”

“You look spooky, alright,” Lena smiles at Conner then looks at Kara, “sorry I freaked out, I thought you really forgot about his costume.”

Kara smiles nervously and hugs Lena, “It’s okay. Go get his pumpkin pail. I left it in our room. We’ll wait for you outside.”

After Lena goes inside, Kara kneels down and whispers to Conner, “Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”

“10 chocolate bars. And full size, not the fun size.”

Kara laughs at Conner’s blackmail, wondering who he gets it from. Now she regrets teaching Conner all those tricks and pranks over the years.

“5 bars,” Kara bargains.

“7, or I’ll tell Mommy.”

“Deal.”

Lena comes out of the room with a pumpkin pail and looks at both Kara and Conner who have suspiciously wide grins on their faces. She decides to let it go.

“Okay you two, ready for trick-or-treating?”

\--

“You don’t want to play with the dogs, sweetheart?” Lena asks Conner while they’re seated on the bench at the park.

“No, I want to sit here with you,” Conner scooches closer to Lena so Lena drapes an arm over him, pulling him close.

Kara sits beside Conner on the bench and teases him, “Mommy’s boy.”

“Stop picking on our son,” Lena scolds Kara and gives Conner a kiss on his head, “You’re just jealous.”

“Hey, buddy, who’s your favorite? Mama or Mommy?”

“Don’t ask him that! Why are you making him choose?!” Lena berates Kara but Conner answers immediately, “Mommy.”

Kara laughs loudly, a deep belly laugh and tousles Conner’s hair, “Good answer. Mommy’s my favorite too.”

Lena just shakes her head at their antics, they look more like best friends rather than mother and son. Sometimes Lena gets jealous of their dynamic with one another, but she knows Conner and Kara love her just the same. And that fact alone makes her happy.

“Darling, they have a water fountain in this park,” Lena points out to the huge water fountain in the middle of the park, right in front of them.

“You want to make a wish, buddy?”

“How do you make a wish?”

“I’ll teach you, come on.”

Lena stays seated and tells Kara, “Go, I’ll stay here.”

When they reach the fountain, Kara rummages through her pockets and takes out a coin. She bends down and tells Conner, “Think of something you want. That will be your wish and no, you cannot wish for more wishes.”

“How did you know I was gonna ask for that?”

“Because you’re my son. Remember, your wish has to be reasonable.”

“What’s reasonable?”

“It has to be not that big, but not that small. Something you want that is just right. Do you have something in mind?”

“I think so.”

“And you can’t tell me or it won’t come true.”

“Does it really work, Ma?” Conner asks skeptically.

Kara turns around to look over at Lena, then back at Conner and smiles, “It worked for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise time jump! I know many of you want me to continue the story but I hope the time jump gives a sort of satisfactory conclusion, my version of wrapping it in a neat little bow. I always knew spooky was going to be a time jump chapter hence the kind of ‘finale’ feel in the previous chapter. I don’t know if I will ever explore this AU again, so this is my goodbye for now. 
> 
> I want to thank you all for reading, for your kudos, and especially your comments. Your reactions and thoughts to every excruciating slow burns, to my dumbest jokes, and even my sweetest fluffs makes my day. I look forward to your comments every time after I publish a post, it seriously has been the best part of my day this whole month. 
> 
> And to those of you who just finished reading this whole thing because you only read completed works (seriously, who hurt you?), thank you as well! You were spared the daily waits and have been blessed with my writings in one go lol, I envy you.
> 
> Anyway, before I get TOO emotional and leave a fucking essay for an end note lol, I just want to say THANK YOU and dedicate this whole fic to all of y’all and to Supercorp. May we get our endgame for S6! 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!!!
> 
> PS: sabie_the_artist, happy birthday!!


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